THE  JAMES  K.  MOFFITT   FUND. 

LIBRARY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

GIFT    OF 

JAMES    KENNEDY   MOFFITT 

OF  THE   CLASS   OF  '86. 

Accession  No.    tOOooU    class  No. 

XLbc  Soul 
Jn  tbe  XDlnseen  Morlb 


AN  INQUIRY  INTO    THE  DOCTRINE   OF 
THE  INTERMEDIATE  STATE 


BY 


R.    E.    HUTTON 

CHAPLAIN    OF   ST.    MARGARET's,    EAST    GRINSTEAD 
AUTHOR   OF    "the   CROWN    OF    CHRIST,"    ETC. 


■  While  we  look  not  at  the  things  which  are  seen,  but  at  the  things  which  are  not 
seen  :  for  the  things  which  are  seen  are  temporal ;  but  the  things 
which  are  not  seen  are  eternal." — St.  Paul 


NEW   YORK 

E.    P.    BUTTON   &   CO. 

LONDON 

RIVINGTONS 

1902 


KJOFFlIt 


PREFACE 

THE  Shadow  of  Death  falls  so  frequently  across 
the  pathway  of  life  that  the  thought  of  "the 
things  that  are  to  come  hereafter "  is  one  from  which 
there  is  no  escape. 

St.  Paul,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians,  says,  "  I 
would  not  have  you  to  be  ignorant,  brethren,  concerning 
them  which  are  asleep,  that  ye  sorrow  not,  even  as 
others  which  have  no  hope."  The  Apostle  then  dwells 
upon  the  Second  Advent,  and  the  rising  again  of  those 
v/ho  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth.  He  briefly  sums 
up  the  joy  of  the  new  life  in  the  words,  "so  shall  we 
ever  be  with  the  Lord,"  and  adds,  "  wherefore  comfort 
one  another"  {i.e.  exhort  or  strengthen  one  another) 
"  with  these  words."^  St.  Paul  might  have  dwelt  upon 
other  aspects  of  the  life  hereafter,  such  as  the  meeting 
again  with  those  whom  we  have  "  loved  long  since, 
and  lost  awhile,"  but  he  does  not  do  so.  He  has  a  pro- 
found sense  that  the  Presence  of  Christ  is  the  supreme 
need  of  the  soul.  Thus  he  speaks  of  the  soul  of  the 
sincere  Christian  as  finding,  even  before  the  resur- 
rection, its  beatitude  "with  Christ,"-  and  seeing  Him  no 

1  I  Thess.  iv.  13-18.  ^  py^j]^  j   23. 


105630 


vl  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

longer  "through  a  glass  darkly,  but  face  to  face."^  To 
be  "absent  from  the  body,"  i.e.  in  the  intermediate  or 
disembodied  state,  is  to  be  "present  with  the  Lord."- 
It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  in  Holy  Scripture  our 
thoughts  are  usually  directed  toward  the  life  after 
the  resurrection,  rather  than  to  the  life  of  the  dis- 
embodied soul.  It  is  from  no  forgetfulness  of  this  fact 
that  in  the  following  pages  I  have  endeavoured  to  trace 
the  growth  of  belief  as  to  the  soul  in  its  intermediate 
state — between  the  death  and  resurrection  of  the  body. 
The  resurrection  may  be  yet  far  off,  the  day  of  death 
is  near  at  hand,  and  before  many  years  are  gone  we 
must  all  pass  into  that  Unseen  World  where  so  many 
we  have  lost  sight  of  are  awaiting  the  end.  This 
certainly  makes  the  subject  of  the  intermediate  state 
to  be  one  of  the  deepest  interest. 

If,  as  Tennyson  said,  "  Knowledge  is  of  things  we 
see,"  then  it  is  plain  we  can  have  no  knowledge  of 
the  Unseen  World.  But  what  the  poet  said  is  only 
true  if  he  allows  that  the  eye  of  the  soul  can  see  and 
perceive  as  well  as  the  eye  of  the  body.  It  has  been 
well  said  that  **we  have  an  organ  or  faculty  for  the 
discernment  of  spiritual  truth,  which,  in  its  proper 
sphere,  is  as  much  to  be  trusted  as  the  organs  of 
sensation  in  theirs."^  The  vision  of  the  mind — the 
rational  soul — we  call  "reason,"  and  the  illumination 
of  the  soul  by  the  revelation  of  God  bestows  the  light 

^  I  Cor.  xiii.  12.  "2  Cor.  v.  8. 

2  Christian  Mysticism,  p.  6,  W,  R.  Inge,  M.A. 


Preface  vll 

of  faith.  Reason  and  faith  each  enable  a  man  to  attain 
to  knowledge.  Reason  is  not  contradicted,  but  illu- 
minated, by  what  we  call  revelation.  The  one  prepares 
the  way  for  the  other ;  reason  is  perfected  by  faith.  By 
the  light  of  reason  the  Gentile  religions  of  antiquity 
were  able  to  arrive  at  some  of  the  truths  of  what  is 
called  Natural  Theology.  They  believed  very  generally 
in  the  existence  of  an  Intelligent  First  Cause.  This 
knowledge  was  not  despised  by  St.  Paul,  but  when  he 
addressed  the  Gentiles  he  referred  to  it,  and  built  upon 
it.  To  the  Romans  he  said,  "  The  invisible  things  of 
God  from  the  creation  of  the  world  are  clearly  seen, 
being  understood  by  the  things  that  are  made,  even 
His  eternal  power  and  Godhead ;  so  that  they  are  with- 
out excuse,"  1  who  do  not  glorify  God.  Reason  had 
taught  men  the  existence  of  God ;  revelation  made 
Him  known  as  Triune.  Reason  had  led  the  Greeks 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  Fatherhood  of  God,  as  St.  Paul 
reminded  them,  when  he  quoted  certain  of  their  own 
poets  who  had  confessed,  "we  are  also  His  offspring." ^ 
Revelation  did  but  make  known  how  this  relationship 
was  perfected  in  Jesus  Christ. 

Something  of  the  same  sort  is  true  as  to  the  life  after 
death.  Reason  had  led  many  to  the  conviction  that  as 
there  is  a  God,  so  in  Him  all  live — not  only  here,  but 
hereafter.  This  conclusion  of  Natural  Theology  was 
confirmed  and  illuminated  by  the  revelation  which 
came   through   Jesus  Christ,  "  Who  hath  brought  life 

^  Rom.  i.  20.  2  Acts  xvii.  28. 


viii  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

and  immortality  (incorruption)  to  light  through  the 
gospel."^  That  which  was  only  dimly  seen  by  the 
great  philosophers  of  Greece  and  Rome  was  made  clear 
by  the  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead.  He 
witnessed  to  the  truth  that  "  God  is  not  the  God  of 
the  dead,  but  of  the  living."^  To  the  belief  that  the 
soul  was  not  extinguished  by  the  death  of  the  body 
was  added — as  far  as  the  Gentiles  were  concerned — the 
revelation  that  death  was  not  for  ever  to  wreck  the 
body,  but  that  it  was  destined  to  share  with  the  soul 
in  the  new  and  more  glorious  life  of  the  world  to  come. 
As  to  the  doctrine  of  the  soul  in  its  intermediate  state 
we  cannot  of  course  teach,  as  undoubtedly  true,  any- 
thing that  is  not  supported  by  the  witness  of  the  holy 
Scriptures.  The  Bible  contains  all  the  elements  for  a 
full,  clear,  and  systematic  theology ;  but  these  elements 
are  scattered  throughout  various  books  and  letters, 
much  in  the  same  way  as  the  phenomena  of  natural 
science  are  scattered  throughout  Nature.  The  great 
Fathers  of  the  early  Church  have  left  us  commentaries 
on  Scripture,  letters,  catechisms,  and  treatises  on  special 
points  of  doctrine  directed  against  particular  errors 
prevalent  in  their  day ;  for  many  centuries,  however, 
there  was  little  or  no  attempt  made  to  systematise  this 
body  of  doctrine  and  show  how  it  formed  a  coherent 
whole. 

History  and  experience  bear  witness  to  the  tendency 
there  is  in  man  to  systematise  his  knowledge,  for  man 

1  2  Tim.  i.  lo.  2  St.  Matt.  xxii.  32. 


Preface  ix 

is  pre-eminently  a  reasoning  being.  All  departments 
of  learning,  taken  possession  of  by  the  inquirer,  are 
therefore  in  time  reduced  to  a  system.  It  has  been 
so  with  astronomy,  botany,  geology,  medicine,  chemistry, 
and  all  the  sciences ;  so  also  with  ontology,  psychology, 
ethics,  political  economy,  and  all  the  philosophies.  Give 
to  men  a  multitude  of  facts  or  theories,  and  they  will 
begin  to  analyse  their  nature  and  qualities,  to  arrange 
and  classify,  frame  other  theories,  and  draw  conclusions 
tending  to  systematisation  and  simplicity.  To  this  rule 
it  was  impossible  that  theology  should  be  an  exception. 
Scientific  theology  is  therefore  the  manifestation  of  the 
truths  contained  in  Holy  Scripture,  in  due  relation  to 
one  another,  and  as  far  as  possible  setting  forth  their 
agreement  with  philosophy. 

Starting,  therefore,  with  some  brief  introductory 
chapters  on  the  doctrine  of  the  soul,  I  have  endeavoured 
to  trace  in  the  Bible,  the  Fathers,  the  Liturgies,  and 
the  writings  of  the  theologians,  what  was  commonly 
believed  as  to  the  life  of  the  soul  in  its  intermediate, 
disembodied  state.  I  have  tried  to  avoid  the  pitfall 
of  interpreting  these  documents  so  as  to  make  them 
harmonise  with  my  own  beliefs.  My  aim  has  been  to 
state  as  fairly  and  truthfully  as  I  can  what  the  teaching 
in  each  part  of  the  Church  of  Christ  has  been  at  various 
times.  The  Church  as  a  whole  has  defined  very  little 
as  to  the  after-life,  and  hence  we  come  across  a  great 
variety  of  opinions  on  many  points.  Persons  who  wish, 
then,  to  believe  that  their  own  views  are  those  which 

A  2 


X  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

have  been  held  "always,  everywhere,  and  by  all,"  are 
necessarily  disappointed  when  they  find  at  the  outset 
that  the  Fathers  were  not  agreed  among  themselves,  and 
that  to  this  day  there  is  no  "  consent  of  the  Church " 
upon  every  detail  of  doctrine  as  to  the  conditions  of 
the  intermediate  state. 

At  the  present  day  the  eschatology  of  the  Latin 
Church  differs  in  some  respects  from  that  of  the 
Orthodox  Church  of  the  East,  and  the  ordinary 
Anglican  teaching  differs  from  that  of  the  Greeks  and 
Latins. 

I  believe,  however,  that  reason  and  revelation  have 
led  to  much  the  same  conclusions — that,  in  spite  of 
the  controversies  that  still  divide  the  Christian  Church, 
there  is  a  great  unity  of  belief  underlying  superficial 
differences  of  opinion.  No  doubt  these  differences  of 
doctrine  and  practice  may  be,  and  often  are,  so 
magnified  that  the  essential  unity  of  belief  is  obscured. 
For  example,  all  Christians  can  accept  the  statement 
of  St.  Paul  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Philippians,  that  "  He 
which  began  a  good  work  in  you  will  perfect  it  until 
the  day  of  Jesus  Christ."^  It  is  only  when  we  come 
to  the  question  where  this  good  work  is  carried  on, 
by  what  means  the  soul  is  perfected,  etc.,  that  con- 
troversy begins.  And  so  with  "  prayer  for  the  dead,"  as 
prayer  for  the  departed  is  often  improperly  called,  the 
controversy  is  mainly  one  of  words.  If  "  prayer  is  the 
soul's  sincere  desire,  uttered  or  unexpressed,"  then  surely 

1  Phil.  i.  6 


Preface  xi 

all  of  us,  Catholic  and  Protestant,  do  in  reality  pray  for 
the  souls  of  those  we  have  loved  ?  We  all  wish  them 
God-speed  on  their  journey  home,  whether  we  kneel 
down  and  put  our  desires  into  words  or  leave  them 
unexpressed.  Prayer  is  not  confined  to  vocal  addresses, 
but  it  is  the  "  lifting  up  of  the  heart  and  mind  to  God." 
Why,  then,  should  Protestants  quarrel  with  the  im- 
memorial custom  of  the  Church — a  custom  also  common 
to  the  pre-Christian  religions  of  antiquity — of  expressing 
in  vocal  prayer  the  strong  desires  of  her  heart  for  the 
eternal  welfare  of  the  departed  ?  To  some  such  question 
the  reply  was  lately  made,  that  "there  is  more  need 
to  lead  men  to  imitate  Jesus  Christ,  and  walk  in  His 
steps,  than  to  pray  for  the  dead."  This  is  one  of  those 
statements,  begging  the  question  that  are  popular 
among  the  thoughtless.  It  belongs  to  the  same 
category  as  the  story  of  the  bishop  (said  to  have  been 
"perhaps  the  most  influential  man  on  the  bench"), 
who  peremptorily  ordered  a  certain  curate — reported  to 
him  for  preaching  on  the  subject  of  prayers  for  the 
departed — to  "leave  the  dead  alone,  and  go  and  do 
some  parish  work."  We  are  not  told  why  the  preaching 
of  the  value  of  prayers  for  the  departed  was,  more 
than  any  other  doctrine,  incompatible  with  "parish 
work."  Such  a  prelate  would  doubtless  have  said  to 
St.  Paul,  "Leave  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead  alone  and  attend  to  missionary  work."  The 
truth  is  that — while  it  is  of  course  possible  to  unduly 
dwell  upon  any  doctrine — the  subject  of  prayer  for  the 


xll  The  Sold  in  the   Unseen   World 

departed  is  far  from  being  unfruitful.     Apart  from  the 

help  such  prayers  may  bring  to  the  departed,  they  serve 

in   a   material   age   to   keep   the    Unseen    World   and 

eternal  verities  constantly  before  those  who  are  often 

so  absorbed  in  "work"  that  they  are  in  danger  of  for^ 

getting   the   lesson   contained   in   the   Apostle's  words, 

"  We  look  not  at  the  things  which  are  seen,  but  at  the 

things  which  are  not  seen  :    for  the  things  v/hich  are 

seen  are  temporal,  but  the  things  which  are  not  seen  are 

eternal."     St.  Paul  was  not  a  dreamer  who  neglected 

*'  work,"  nor  does  the  history  of  the  Church  of  Christ 

teach  us  that  zealous  work  for  God  is  the  speciality  of 

those  who  "  leave  the  dead  alone." 

R.  E.  H. 

East  Grinstead, 

Feast  of  St,  Afargaret^  1 90 1  ,  , 


CONTENTS 


M  treacber  come  trom  (5oD 

PAGE 

Jesus  Christ  the  Divine  Teacher — Is  there  a  future  life  ? — How  we 
know  what  Christ  taught — The  Bible  in  the  Church — The 
Church  teaches,  Scripture  proves — The  Faith  once  delivered — 
The  witness  of  miracle — and  of  the  power  of  the  faith — The 
Church  not  an  oracle,  but  a  witness — Dogma  and  doctrine — The 
General  Councils — Little  revealed  as  to  Intermediate  State — 
Tradition,  Jewish  and  Pagan — "  Back  to  the  Holy  Scriptures"     .         i 

II 

JSoD^t  Soul,  ant)  Spirit 

What  is  man? — Man  a  compound  being — Various  channels  of 
revelation — What  do  we  mean  by  the  human  soul  ? — and  spirit  ? 
— No  definition  in  Holy  Scripture — Value  of  ancient  Greek 
speculations — "  The  fulness  of  time  " — Aristotle's  definition  of 
the  soul — Materialism — Whence  came  life? — Pre-existence  of 
the  soul — rejected  by  Church — Origin  of  the  soul — Soul  and 
spirit — Creationism  and  Traducianism — Carnal,  natural,  spiritual       17 

III 

56  tbe  Soul  immortal? 

No  experimental  knowledge  of  the  soul  apart  from  the  body — 
Teaching  of  Plato — Jewish  beliefs — What  does  the  Bible  teach 
as  to  immortality? — Dr.  Agar  Beet  —  Delitzsch — Conditional 
immortality — The  Scriptural  office  of  the  Church — Our  Lord's 
teaching  confirmed  belief  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul — All 
souls  survive  death — are  united  with  the  body  in  the  resurrection 


xlv  The  Soul  m  the   Unseen   World 


PAGE 


— Existence  of  God  incapable  of  absolute  proof — but  an  entirely 
reasonable  belief — The  immortality  of  the  soul  likewise  reasonable 
— and  commonly  taught  from  the  first — Dr.  Liddon's  words — 
"  The  life  everlasting "  .  .  ...       33 

IV 

^be  JSreal^ing  ot  2)ream6 

Death  looked  at  from  two  points  of  view — as  a  physical  fact — as  a 
change  of  environment — Does  death  alter  the  moral  attitude  of  the 
soul? — Parable  of  Dives  and  Lazarus — a  basis  of  hope — Proba- 

'       tion,  does  it  extend  beyond  the  grave  ? — Spiritual  death — Future 

correction — Progress  of  the  soul  '*  until  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ"       49 


^be  Witness  ot  tbe  ©ID  Testament 

What  the  Jews  understood  the  Old  Testament  to  teach — difficult 
to  ascertain — Patient  study  of  Book  of  Nature  and  written  Word 
of  God — Heaven  and  Sheol — Sheol  a  place  of  gloom — not  of 
.  punishment  or  reward — Ancestor  worship  among  Jews — Doctrine 
.  of  individual  retribution — References  to  a  future  life — Spiritualism 
— Growth  of  doctrine  as  to  reward  and  punishment — Vital  prin- 
ciples— Sin — The  Purgative,  Illuminative,  and  Unitive  Ways  of 
the  Church — State  of  the  dead  before  Incarnation  a  temporary 
one — Influence  of  Greek  thought  on  Judaism  .  ,         .       63 


VI 

ZTbe  MftnesB  ot  Bncient  Greece  anO  IRome 

Objection  to  consideration  of  paganism — The  Fathers  on  pagan 
philosophy — Eastern  beliefs — The  Rig-  Veda — Institutes  of  Manu 
— Hinduism — Homer — Tartarus  and  the  Islands  of  the  Blest — ■ 
Plato — Influence  of  Greek  thought  on  Deutero-canonical  books — 
The  Greek  anthology — Some  Greek  sepulchral  epigrams — No 
mention  in  them  of  place  of  torment — The  Latin  authors — Virgil 
— Rites  for  the  Dead — Cicero    .  .  .  .         .       87 


Contents  xv 

VII 

Mltnees  of  5cwi6b  ^raMtion  page 

Gap  between  the  Old  and  New  Testament — History  of  the  Jews 
during  this  period — Influence  of  Greece — Socrates — Asmonean 
dominion — Conquest  by  Rome — Teaching  of  the  Jewish  Church — 
concerned  chiefly  with  outward  observances — No  agreement  as 
to  the  future  life — Jewish  parties — The  resurrection  and  prayer 
for  the  departed — Apocryphal  books — Schools  of  Shammai  and 
Hillel  —  Eternal  punishment  —  Josephus  —  The  Talmud  —  Dr. 
Edersheim  —  *'  Children  of  Gehinnom  "  —  "  Children  of  the 
kingdom" — Prayer  for  the  departed — Quotation  from  Professor 
Plumptre's  writings — Greek  and  Jewish  eschatology  compared — 
Value  of  Jewish  tradition  .  .  .  .         .     109 

VIII 

mituesB  of  tbe  IRew  Testament— 1bat)e6 

Our  Lord  came  to  fulfil,  not  to  destroy— He  accepted  some  Jewish 
traditions — rejected  others — Figurative  language  as  to  future  life 
— Heaven  a  place  above — the  abode  of  God  and  His  angels — 
the  destined  home  of  the  redeemed — Hades,  Gehenna,  Tartarus 
— The  gates  of  Hades — Gehenna  and  Paradise  in  Hades — Gehenna 
either  an  eternal  or  temporary  place  of  punishment — the  equivalent 
of  Tartarus  among  the  Greeks — Our  Lord's  teaching — "  Everyone 
shall  be  salted  with  fire" — Did  our  Lord  teach  everlasting  punish- 
ment ?  —  Dean  Farrar's  Eternal  Hope  —  a  valuable  protest  — 
.    Punishment  and  Life  are  each  ceonian — Destruction  of  wicked — 

Summary  of  chapter  .  ,  .  •         •     ^35 

IX 

^be  1KIlitne60  of  tbe  IFlew  Testament— iparaMse 

The  Jewish  Hades  included  Gehenna  and  Paradise  or  Abraham's 
Bosom — Our  Lord  accepted  this  tradition — but  revealed  little 
about  Hades — Careful  consideration  of  Scripture  necessary — 
The   Primeval   earthly  Paradise — Ipst   by  sin— a   type — Signifi- 


xvi  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen   World 


PAGE 


cance'of  the  word  Paradise — The  Jewish  Elysian  Fields — 
Abraham's  Bosom — God  lost  sight  of — The  Bosom  of  God — 
The  Paradise  of  God — restored  by  Jesus  Christ — The  descent  of 
the  spirit  of  Christ  into  Hades — as  the  Redeemer — He  liberates 
the  righteous  souls — abolishes  the  Paradise  in  Hades — and 
transfers  Paradise  to  heaven — "Where  Christ  is  there  is  Paradise" 
— The  tradition  of  Christendom  on  this  point— in  Liturgies, 
Fathers — The  vision  of  God     .  .  .  •         •     ^55 


X 

^be  ITeacbing  ot  tbe  primitive  Cburcb 

Expectation  of  speedy  return  of  Christ — "Absent  from  the  body" 
— "Present  with  the  Lord" — St.  Justin  Martyr — St.  Irenseus — 
Tertullian — St.  Cyprian  —  St.  John  Chrysostom  —  St.  Cyril  of 
Jerusalem — St.  Augustine — "I  believe  in  the  communion  of 
saints" — a  late  addition  to  Apostles'  Creed  —  its  original 
significance — The  invocation  of  saints — in  the  writings  of 
St.  Chrysostom — and  St.  Augustine— Superstitious  growth  of 
cultus  of  the  saints — Dr.  Newman  on  invocation  of  B.V.M. — 
Strange  passage  in  Faber's  writings — Anglican  statements  .         •     ^  75 


XI 

Iprascc  tor  tbe  2)eparteD  in  tbe  primitive  Cburcb 

Prayer  an  instinct — God  the  God  of  the  living— Antiquity  of  prayer 
for  souls  of  departed — God,  not  man,  the  Judge  of  all  souls — The 
Martyrs  believed  to  be  in  Heaven  —  St.  Cyril's  words — The 
Primitive  Liturgies — That  of  St.  James — and  St.  John  Chrysostom 
— and  St.  Mark — The  Malabar  Rite— Petrine  Liturgy — Bishop 
Forbes  —  Commemoration  and  prayer  —  St.  Augustine  on  a 
Purgatory  hereafter — The  sinful  dead  —  Quotation  from  St. 
Chrysostom — Sinners  especially  objects  for  prayer  and  alms — 
they  depend  entirely  on  such  prayers — Doctrine  of  St.  Augustine 
— differs  in  some  respects  from  Eastern — His  words  as  to  a 
purgatorial  fire  are  figurative — Paradise  not  a  place  of  purification 
— but  reward  .  .  .  ...      199 


Contents  xvii 

XII 

Ipatristlc  ^eacblng  on  future  ipurlticatton         page 

Christianity  not  entirely  a  new  revelation — Correlation  of  doctrines — 
A  gradual  process— Differences  as  to  Intermediate  State  in  the 
Fathers — The  growth  of  purgatorial  doctrine — The  condition  of 
the  early  Christians — one  of  trial — The  hope  of  rest — Judgment- 
day  Purgatory — Need  of  repentance — Forgiven  sin — Temporal 
punishment — The  faithful  Christian  perfected  immediately — and 
received  into  Paradise  —  The  penitent  but  sin-stained  need 
purification — Contradictory  doctrines  of  the  Fathers — Drift  of 
their  teaching — St.  Thomas  Aquinas  on  Infernus  and  Abraham's 
Bosom  —  Two  abodes,  Heaven  and  Hades  —  Eastern  Church 
denies  material  fire  in  Hades — Growth  of  Western  doctrine  of 
Purgatory  as  a  distinct  place — "  Saved,  so  as  by  fire  " — Prayers 
for  departed  .  .  .  ...     225 

XIII 

XTeacbing  of  tbe  /iReOia^val  anD  (Breeft  Cburcb 

St.  Augustine  thought  some  purgatorial  fire  possible — St.  Gregory 
the  Great  taught  a  purgatorial  fire  certain  before  the  Judgment — 
Beginning  of  controversy  betv/een  East  and  West — Hitherto  two 
abodes  of  departed — Origen  taught  Hell  to  be  only  a  Purgatory — 
St.  Gregory  of  Nyssa — Doctrine  of  Church  at  time  of  final  schism 
between  East  and  West — Greek  liturgies  represent  floating 
opinions  of  Fathers — Contrast  to  teaching  of  later  theologians — 
Latin  Missal — Canon  of  Mass — Later  additions  contrasted — 
Latin  Church  did  not  originally  distinguish  between  Hell  and 
Purgatory — Her  offices  do  not  teach  the  modern  doctrine — but 
the  mediaeval  and  Greek  belief — Offet'torium  in  Mass  for  the 
Dead — Archbishop  Bramhall's  comment  upon  it — Dies  IrcB — 
Collects — St.  Thomas  at  first  taught  Hell  and  Purgatory  were 
one  place — Council  of  Florence — Growth  of  Latin  doctrine — 
rejected  by  Greeks — Modern  Greek  authorities — The  "  Orthodox 
Confession" — Synod  of  Bethlehem — Macarius— Other  statements 
of  Orthodox  Church — Summary — {^See  also  Appendix  at  end  of 
this  volume\  .  .  .  .  ,         .     251 


xviii        The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

XIV 

Ipurgator^— IRoman  Bogma  page 

The  Romish  Doctrine  not  identical  with  Dogma — Distinction  some- 
times ignored — sometimes  unduly  insisted  upon  by  Romanists — 
The  claims  made  in  the  late  "joint  pastoral"  of  the  Anglo- 
Roman  Episcopate — Insecurity  of  guidance  given  by  Roman 
Congregations — and  the  Popes — Quasi  authoritative  system  of 
Rome — Dr.  Pusey — Father  Duggan — Dogma  as  to  Purgatory — 
taught  at  Councils  of  Florence  and  Trent — Little  decided — 
Temporal  punishment — Father  Hunter's  interpretation  of  dogmatic 
teaching — Points  needing  explanation — Dr.  Newman's  Dream  of 
Gerontius   .  .  ,  .  ,  .  ...     279 

XV. 

^be  IRomieb  2)octrine  concerning  ipurgator^ 

Roman  dogma  defensible — Romish  doctrine  "a  fond  thing,"  etc. — 
Attempted  reform  of  at  Trent — frustrated  by  theologians — The 
Romish  doctrine  teaches  that  souls  are  tortured — by  material  fire 
— are  helped  by  Indulgences — and  Masses  at  "  Privileged  Altars  " 
— and  special  intervention  of  B.  V,M. — The  doctrine  of  Indulgences 
criticised  —  denied  by  Eastern  Church  as  well  as  our  own — 
exalted  by  Romanists  because  profitable  and  tends  to  exalt 
the  Pope — Privileged  Altars — Abbe  Thiers  on  their  origin — 
Mass  traffic — Fables — The  "Brown"  or  Carmelite  Scapular — 
Extraordinary  promises  of  B.V.M.  connected  with  Scapular — 
Controversy  on  subject  between  an  Oratorian  and  Jesuit — 
Devotion  to  the  Scapular  originated  in  forgery — confessed  by 
learned  Romanists — yet  still  recommended  by  Roman  Hierarchy     299 

XVI 

Bnglican  ^eacbing 

Supremacy  of  Holy  Scripture — not  inconsistent  with  authority  of 
Church — Primitive  doctrine — Each  portion  of  the  Church  is 
fallible — Primitive  Church  our  guide — not  the  Reformers — Sum 


Contents  xix 

PAGE 

of  Primitive  belief — The  just  are  in  joy  and  peace — Little  known 
as  to  penitent  but  imperfect — Anglican  teaching  negative  as  well 
as  positive — A  departure  from  mediaeval  doctrine  —  Rejection 
of  doctrine  of  temporal  punishment — as  payment  by  suffering 
of  debt  to  God — Debt  paid  by  Passion  of  Christ — Works  of 
penance  profitable  to  penitent — Hooker's  teaching — What  our 
formularies  imply  as  to  —  State  of  the  perfect  —  imperfect — and 
prayers  for  the  departed — Our  agreement  with  prayers  in  Roman 
Offices — Dr.  Farrar  on  eternal  punishment — Dr.  Plumptre  on 
Article  XXII. — On  what  will  be  probably  held  as  to  Purgatory — 
The  King's  Book—Y\x%\.  Prayer-book  of  Ed.  VI. — Our  present 
Book  of  Conwion  Prayer — The  Homilies — Dr.  Temple's  teaching 
— Desiderata  for  departed — Summary       .  .  ,         .     329 

XVII 

'*5e0U0,  anD  tbe  IRe^urcection** 

The  resurrection  unknown  to  paganism — The  body  a  hindrance — 
Plato  and  St.  Paul — Greek  doctrine  of  the  soul  made  the  body  an 
accident — In  Holy  Writ  our  thoughts  directed  to  the  resurrection 
— rather  than  to  the  Intermediate  State — The  resurrection  of 
Christ  a  stumbling-block  from  the  first — Influence  of  Jesus  Christ 
is  unique — Cause  and  effect — The  Divinity  of  Christ  the  cause — 
Triumph  of  Christ  in  His  Church — The  "theory  of  visions" — 
Was  the  resurrection  of  Christ  a  "fixed  idea"? — Impossibility  of 
miracle — a  "fixed  idea"  among  rationalists — Other  theories  as 
to  resurrection — "Christ  did  not  really  die" — "The  disciples 
stole  His  body" — Theories  refuted — "The  Gospel  story  is  a  late 
invention  " — Writings  of  early  Christian  apologists — The  resurrec- 
tion body  is  spiritual — Life  after  resurrection — One  of  complete 
happiness    ,  .  .  .  ...     369 

APPENDIX 

©n  tbe  2)octrine  ot  tbc  ©ctboDoa;  ;i£a6tern  Cburcb      .   393 


a  ZTeacber  come  from  (Bob 


B 


"  Rationalism  has  made  vain  efforts  to  destroy  and  to  pervert 
the  life  of  Jesus  Christ.  Jesus  Christ  is  not  dethroned ;  the  power 
of  history  protects  and  upholds  Him  against  all  these  attacks. 
Therefore  rationalism  has  been  forced  to  attempt  a  last  supreme 
effort  to  explain,  at  least,  that  life  which  it  has  been  unable  either 
to  destroy  or  to  dishonour.  We  Catholics  explain  the  life  of 
Christ,  we  explain  the  success  He  has  obtained — the  greatest 
of  all  success,  that  of  producing  in  minds  the  rational  certainty 
of  faith  ;  in  the  soul,  holiness  by  humility,  chastity,  and  charity  ; 
in  the  world,  a  spiritual  community,  one,  universal,  and  perpetual 
— we  explain  it  by  that  single  confession — Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son 

of  God."— LACORD AIRE. 

"Do  not  believe  me  because  I  tell  thee  things,  unless  thou 
receive  from  the  Holy  Scriptures  the  proof  of  what  is  set  forth." 
—St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem. 


I. 
H  Ueacber  come  from  (Bob 

IN  the  gospel  story  we  read  that  Nicodemus  came 
to  Jesus  by  night,  and  professed  to  recognise 
Him  as  a  "  teacher  come  from  God."  ^  It  would 
seem,  however,  that  Nicodemus  was  not  prepared  to 
accept  without  question  all  that  he  was  taught. 
He  forgot  that  a  "  teacher  come  from  God "  would 
almost  certainly  have  much  to  say  that  would  make 
demands  upon  the  faith  of  those  who  became  his 
disciples.  True,  the  question  which  Nicodemus  asked 
our  Lord,  "  How  can  these  things  be  ? "  might  be 
understood  as  a  request  for  some  further  explanation, 
and  not  as  a  refusal  to  believe ;  but  from  our  Lord's 
reply  we  gather  that  Nicodemus  was  wanting  in  that 
faith  which  he  ought  to  have  had  in  one  whom  he 
recognised  to  be  a  "  teacher  come  from  God."  "  If  I 
have  told  you  earthly  things  and  ye  believe  not,  how 
shall  ye  believe  if  I  tell  you  of  heavenly  things?" 
Without    entering    into    the    consideration    of    the 

.  1  St.  John  iii,  1-12. 


4  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

particular  "  earthly  things "  that  our  Lord  referred  to, 
we  may  learn  two  lessons  from  this  conversation  with 
Nicodemus.  In  the  first  place,  if  we  profess  to  have 
found  a  teacher  come  from  God,  we  must  be  prepared 
to  accept  on  his  authority  certain  truths  concerning 
"  heavenly  things  " — truths  that  belong  to  the  spiritual 
world.  Secondly,  our  ability  to  receive  these  "  heavenly 
things"  will,  to  some  extent,  depend  on  our  realisation 
of  the  fact  that  there  are  "earthly  things"  which  at 
present  we  are  unable  fully  to  understand,  and  there- 
fore there  may  well  be  mystery  in  truths  that  belong 
to  the  "  Kingdom  of  God."  There  are  mysteries  in 
the  order  of  Nature  that  prepare  us  for  mystery  in 
the  order  of  Grace.^ 

The  application  of  this  truth  to  the  subject  of  the 
life  after  death  is  obvious.  We  can  know  nothing  of 
"  the  life  of  the  world  to  come  "  except  from  revelation. 
We  know  nothing  of  that  life — not  even  whether  there 
is  such  a  life — from  our  own  experience,  or  from  the 

^  The  word  "mystery"  is  from  the  Greek  ^^i^w,  meaning  "to  be  shut 
or  closed."  The  Mysteries  were  a  most  important  feature  in  the  ancient 
Greek  religion.  To  those  initiated  a  secret  was  confided,  and  they  were 
forbidden  to  reveal  it  to  the  general  public. 

Probably  it  was  of  a  character  to  suggest  that  more  than  was  understood 
lay  hidden  in  the  secret.  It  was  spoken,  as  it  were,  through  closed  lips 
(^i;fw)  to  the  one  initiated  {fi^xTTrjs),  and  the  ceremonies,  therefore,  of 
initiation  were  rh  fxvarTifipia — the  Mysteries.  The  word  does  not  occur 
in  the  purely  Hebrew  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  except  once  in  the 
deutero-canonical  book  "  Ecclesiasticus. "  In  the  Alexandrian  Greek 
book  of  "  Wisdom "  it  occurs,  and  is  frequently  used  in  the  New 
Testament.  To  the  Christian  the  initiation  is  by  Baptism,  Our  Lord 
said   to   His   Apostles,    "It   is   given    unto  you  to  know  the  mysteries 


A   Teacher  come  from  God  .  5 

experience  of  those  we  have  met.  Science  can  tell  us 
neither  whence  life  comes  nor  whither  it  goes.  The 
facts  of  what  is  called  "  Spiritualism  "  are  so  confused, 
and  so  mixed  up  with  imposture,  that  they  can  form 
no  sure  foundation  whereon  to  rest  a  well-founded 
confidence  that  there  is  a  hereafter.  Failing  then  to 
find  any  sufficient  witness  in  the  natural  order  for 
the  existence  of  a  future  life,  we  ask,  Is  there  any 
witness  whom  we  are  justified  in  listening  to  as  a 
"  teacher  come  from  God "  ?  Is  there  one  who  can 
truthfully  say,  "  Yes,  the  life  of  the  world  to  come  is 
no  vain  dream.  There  is  a  hereafter ;  a  spiritual  world 
that  '  flesh  and  blood '  ^  cannot  inherit,  but  which  is, 
nevertheless,  the  home  prepared  for  the  children  of 
men.  I  speak  that  which  I  know,  and  testify  that 
1  have  seen "  ?  As  Christians  we  answer  without 
hesitation  that  we  believe  Jesus  Christ  to  be  such  a 
teacher. 

We  are  not   now  concerned  with   the  proofs   upon 

of  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  St.  Paul  writes  to  the  Romans  of  the 
teaching  of  Jesus  Christ  as  "the  revelation  of  the  mystery,  which  was 
kept  secret  since  the  world  began,  but  now  is  made  manifest"  (xvi.  25). 

A  "mystery"  is  therefore  a  truth  or  fact  partially  hidden.  What  is 
revealed  leads  to  the  knowledge  that  there  is  more  which  is  beyond  our 
understanding.  The  word  "mystery"  in  the  Bible  is  used  invariably 
in  the  Greek  sense,  and  is  part  of  the  "pagan  residuum,"  since  it 
depends  on  the  pagan  Mysteries  for  its  full  meaning.  See  G rote's 
History  of  Greece^  part  i.  chap.  i.  ;  Myths  of  Aryan  Nations^  book  ii. 
sec.  ii.  chap,  xii, ;  Dollinger,  The  Gentile  and  the  Jew ;  Hatch,  Influence 
of  Greek  Ideas,  etc. ;  and  Dr.  Liddon's  Sermon  on  Stewards  of  the 
Mysteries  of  God. 

^  I  Cor.  XV.  50. 


6  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

which  our  belief  in  Jesus  Christ  is  based.  "  Christian 
Evidences"  form  a  special  branch  of  Apologetic 
Theology.  We  must  here  take  for  granted — what  is 
admitted  by  all  Christians  —  that  our  Lord  is  not 
merely  "  a  teacher  come  from  God,"  but  that  He  is 
nothing  less  than  God  Incarnate — the  Truth  as  well 
as  the  Way  and  the  Life.  It  will,  then,  be  allowed 
that  whatever  Jesus  Christ  has  taught  about  a  future 
life  is  true.  The  only  question  is,  How  can  we 
know  what  His  teaching  is? 

If  we  seek  to  learn  what  any  of  the  great  men  of 
antiquity  taught  we  naturally  refer  to  their  writings  or 
to  those  of  their  disciples.  Without  these  we  should 
have  nothing  but  the  vaguest  tradition  to  go  upon. 
Jesus  Christ,  however,  as  far  as  we  know,  left  no  writings 
at  all.  The  answer,  therefore,  that  Christians  will  give 
to  the  question.  How  are  we  to  know  what  Christ 
taught  ?  takes  a  twofold  form.  Sometimes  it  is  replied 
that  our  knowledge  comes  through  the  teaching  of  that 
Society  which  Jesus  Christ  founded — the  Church  ;  and 
sometimes,  that  we  learn  His  doctrine  from  the  study 
of  the  New  Testament.  A  moment's  consideration  is 
sufficient  to  convince  us  that  we  have  here  not  two 
distinct  witnesses  but  a  twofold  aspect  of  the  same 
witness.  The  New  Testament  was  not  written  by  Jesus 
Christ  Himself,  but  is  composed  of  a  variety  of  docu- 
ments written  by  those  who  were  His  disciples,  and  by 
the  first  pastors  of  His  Church.  The  New  Testament 
is  therefore  the  product  of  the  Church.     It  is  her  own 


A    Teacher  come  from  God  7 

work,  her  own  book,  though  none  the  less  the  Word  of 
God.  It  is  only  through  the  tradition  of  the  Church 
that  we  know  what  Books  are  part  of  the  sacred 
Canon. 

In  other  words  the  New  Testament  is  nothing  else 
than  the  teaching  of  the  Church  committed  to  writing 
— not  systematised,  but  scattered  throughout  the  sacred 
pages.  It  is  then  from  the  Church  alone  that  we  can 
really  learn  anything  of  the  inner  life  and  doctrine  of 
Jesus  Christ.  The  Church  comes  to  us  as  an  am- 
bassador from  her  Lord,  and  gives  the  sacred  Scriptures 
into  our  hands.  We  study  these  writings  and  learn 
from  them  that,  when  they  were  written,  it  was  part  of 
the  teaching  of  the  Church  that  her  message  was  full 
and  complete  from  the  first;  that  her  office  was  not 
to  reveal  fresh  truths,  but  to  explain,  unfold,  and  eluci- 
date a  deposit  of  truth  committed  to  her  keeping  by 
her  Founder ;  and  further,  that  God  had  so  ordered  it 
that  all  truths  contained  in  this  deposit  should  be  also 
set  forth  in  these  New  Testament  Scriptures.^  What- 
ever the  Church  taught  should  always  be  capable  of 
proof  from  these  writings,  so  that  what  was  not  con- 

^  "The  Church  may  not  require  'as  necessary  to  salvation'  what  is 
not  read  in  Holy  Scripture,  or  may  be  proved  by  it.  This  only  implies 
the  historical  fact,  that  the  same  body  of  saving  truths  which  the  Apostles 
first  preached  orally,  they  afterwards,  under  the  inspiration  of  God  the 
Holy  Ghost,  wrote  in  Holy  Scripture,  God  ordering  in  His  Providence 
that  in  the  unsystematic  teaching  of  Holy  Scripture  all  should  be  em- 
bodied which  is  essential  to  establish  the  faith.  This  is  said  over  and 
over  again  by  the  P'athers."  {An  Eirenicon^  E.  B.  Pusey,  D.D.) 


8  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

tained  in  these  Scriptures  could  never  be  the  teaching 
of  the  Church,  but  merely  the  doctrine — well  or  ill- 
founded — of  certain  of  her  members.  Hence  from  the 
first  the  axiom  was  accepted,  Ecclesia  docet ;  probat 
Scriptura.  The  Church  teaches,  Scripture  proves.  The 
fact  that  the  Church  has  existed  from  the  time  of  the 
Apostles  is  as  capable  of  proof  as  any  other  fact  of 
history.^  The  fact  that  "  inspiration,"  in  the  strict  sense 
of  the  word,  ceased  at  the  death  of  the  Apostles  and 
those  associated  with  them  in  the  foundation  of  the 
Church,  is  gathered  from  the  tradition  of  the  Church, 
and  witnessed  to  by  the  close  of  the  Canon  of  Scripture 
at  the  time  of  their  death.  The  successors  of  the 
Apostles  never  attempted  to  add  their  writings  to  those 
of  the  canonical  Scriptures  ;  neither  did  they  claim 
the  power  to  add  new  articles  to  the  Faith  "  once 
delivered  unto  the  saints."^  The  post-apostolic  Church 
was  to  witness  to  the  deposit  she  had  received  from  the 
inspired  Apostles.  The  Apostles  themselves  had  been 
instructed  by  their  Lord,  and  on  the  day  of  Pentecost 
they  received  a  miraculous  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  for 
the  very  purpose  that  they  might  recall  to  mind  all 
that  they  had  been  taught,  and  understand  its  full 
significance  and  its  application  to  the  needs  of  the  souls 
of  men.  Those  who,  like  St.  Paul,  had  not  been  dis- 
ciples of  Jesus  Christ  were  called  by  God  Himself  to 

^  The  fact  that  Jesus  Christ  lived  and  was  crucified  we  know  from 
Pagan  as  well  as  Christian  sources. 
2  St.  Jude  3. 


A    Teacher  come  from  God  9 

share  in  the  founding  of  the  Church,  and  the  fact  of 
their  having  this  call  was  witnessed  to  by  the  evidence 
of  miraculous  power  and  by  the  consent  of  the  apostolic 
college.  The  gift  of  personal  inspiration  ceased  at  the 
death  of  the  Apostles,  with  other  gifts  that  had  been 
granted  for  the  purpose  of  founding  the  Church.  In- 
spiration, in  the  technical  sense  of  the  word,  was  no 
longer  needful  when,  the  whole  cycle  of  the  faith  had 
been  declared.  Miracles  were  superseded  by  the  witness 
of  the  enduring  force  that  enabled  the  apparent  weak- 
ness of  the  Church  to  triumph  over  the  opposing  power 
and  wisdom  of  imperial  Rome.  Men  might  not  know 
whence  this  mysterious  force  came  or  whither  it  tended, 
but  they  were  compelled  to  recognise  its  presence,  for 
the  signs  of  it  were  constantly  before  their  eyes.  The 
Apostles  knew  that  this  power  came  to  them  from  their 
crucified,  risen,  and  ascended  Lord.  It  had  come  upon 
them  suddenly,  accompanied  by  "  a  sound  from  heaven 
as  of  a  rushing  mighty  wind."^  The  hearts  of  men 
were  bowed  as  this  all-subduing  breath  of  God  swept 
over  them  and  filled  them  with  a  new  life.  The  words 
of  the  Master  were*  verified  before  their  eyes  :  "  That 
*  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh  ;  and  that  which  is 
born  of  the  Spirit  is  spirit.  Marvel  not  that  I  said 
unto  thee,  Ye  must  be  born  again.  The  wind  bloweth 
where  it  listeth,  and  thou  hearest  the  sound  thereof,  but 
canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh,  and  whither  it  goeth  : 

^  Acts  ii.  2. 


lo  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen  World 

so  is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit."  ^  Thus,  as 
time  went  on,  the  new  life  of  the  children  of  the  king- 
dom of  God  became  its  own  witness  to  a  divine  force 
that  just  at  the  first  had  proclaimed  its  presence  by 
those  wonders  that  men  call  "  miracle." 

The  Church,  then,  is  not  an  oracle  to  which  men  may 
seek  for  an  answer  to  every  curious  question  they  wish 
to  ask.  What  she  has  had  to  declare  is  the  old  Faith, 
to  which  she  can  add  nothing  because  nothing  new  has 
been  revealed  to  her.  A  new  revelation  would  require 
the  witness  of  fresh  miraculous  power,  as  well  as  the 
witness  of  the  effect  of  the  new  truth  upon  the  life  of 
the  Church.  In  theory,  therefore,  it  is  confessed  by 
every  portion  of  the  Church  that  nothing  can  be  added 
to  the  original  deposit  of  truth.  But,  from  the  first,  the 
Church  has  reckoned  some  doctrines  as  of  far  greater 
moment  than  others.  The  entire  Church  declared  at 
the  Council  of  Ephesus  in  the  year  A.D.  431  that,  "No 
person  shall  be  allowed  to  bring  forward,  or  to  write,  or 
to  compose  any  other  Creed  besides  that  which  was 
settled  by  the  holy  Fathers  who  were  assembled  in  the 
city  of  Nicaea,  with  the  Holy  Spirit.  But  those  who 
shall  dare  to  compose  any  other  Creed,  or  to  exhibit  or 
to  produce  any  such  to  those  who  wish  to  turn  to  the 
acknowledgment  of  the  truth,  whether  from  heathenism 
or  from  Judaism,  or  any  other  heresy  whatsoever,  if 
they  are  bishops  or  clergymen,  they  shall  be  deposed, 
the  bishops  from  their  episcopal  office,  and  the  clergy- 
men from  the  clergy,  and  if  they  be  of  the  laity  they 

^  St.  John  iii.  6-8. 


A   Teacher  come  from  God  1 1 

shall  be  anathematised."^  This  decree  of  the  CEcumeni- 
cal  Council  of  Ephesus  was  reaffirmed  by  the  Council 
of  Chalcedon  in  451.  The  dogmatic  decrees  of  the 
undoubted  CEcumenical  Councils  —  held  before  the 
separation  of  East  and  West — are  binding  upon  the 
whole  Church,  and  have  been  repeatedly  referred  to  as 
authoritative  by  the  post-reformation  Anglican  Episco- 
pate. They  are,  moreover,  recognised  by  the  statute 
law  of  England  where  it  is  written :  "  Provided  always 
and  it  be  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that  such 
persons  .  .  .  shall  not  in  any  wise  have  authority  or 
power  to  order,  determine,  or  adjudge  any  matter  or 
cause  to  be  heresy  but  only  such  as  heretofore  have 
been  determined,  ordered,  or  adjudged  to  be  heresy  by 
the  authority  of  the  canonical  Scriptures,  or  by  the 
first  four  General  Councils  or  any  of  them,  or  by  any 
other  General  Council  wherein  the  same  was  declared 
heresy  by  the   express   and   plain    words   of  the   said 

^  In  this  decree  there  is  a  point  of  some  importance  that  is  lost' 
sight  of  in  the  English  version,  but  is  clearly  marked  in  the  original 
Greek.  In  the  sentence  "those  who  dare  to  compose  any  other  creed" 
the  word  used  for  ^^  other  ^^  is  erepos  not  dWos.  The  word  erepos  means 
"other"  in  the  sense  of  unlike,  opposite,  not  "other"  ((XXXos)  in  the  sense 
of  a  duplicate  creed,  i.e.  one  expressing  the  same  truths  in  other  words. 
Hence  the  Athanasian  Creed  does  not  transgress  the  decree  of  the  Council, 
since  it  adds  nothing  new  to  the  Nicene  Creed;  it  is  not  "another"  in  the 
sense  of  being  opposite  to  or  unlike  the  Nicene  ;  it  merely  develops 
and  explains  the  truths  of  the  Nicene  Creed.  See  Galatians  i.  6,  7,  where 
the  two  words  are  used:  "I  marvel  that  ye  .  .  .  unto  another  [erepov) 
gospel :  which  is  not  another"  (dWo),  i.e.  "  there  cannot  be  two  Gospels, 
and  as  it  is  not  the  same  it  is  no  Gospel  at  all,"  as  Lightfoot  explains.  See 
Dr.  Lightfoot's  comment  on  the  passage  in  his  Epistles  of  St.  Paul  to 
the  Galatians. 


12  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

canonical  Scriptures  .  .  ."^  At  the  Lambeth  Confer- 
ence in  1867  the  authority  of  the  Councils  was  referred 
to  in  these  words :  "  We,  Bishops  of  Christ's  Holy 
Catholic  Church  ...  do  here  solemnly  record  our  con- 
viction that  unity  will  be  most  effectually  promoted  by 
maintaining  the  faith  in  its  purity  and  integrity — as 
taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  held  by  the  Primitive 
Church,  summed  up  in  the  Creeds,  and  affirmed  by  the 
undisputed  General  Councils.  ..."  It  is,  therefore,  no 
assertion  of  private  judgment  that  leads  us  to  reject 
new  dogmas.^  The  divisions  of  Christendom  hinder 
the  meeting  of  a  General  Council,  and  consequently  the 
"  definition  "  of  any  new  dogm^a  —  however  plainly  it 
may  be  taught  in  Holy  Scripture — is  impossible.  The 
"  one  Faith,"  as  far  as  it  has  been  explicitly  "  defined  " 
by  the  whole  Church,  is  therefore  contained  in  the 
Creeds.  The  articles  of  the  Creed  are  few  in  number 
but  of  supreme  importance,  since  they  guard  the 
doctrine  of  the  Blessed  Trinity,  and  the  Incarnation. 
Our  Lord  Himself  taught  the  need  of  faith  in  these 
fundamental  truths  when  He  said,  "  This  is  life  eternal, 
that  they  might  know  Thee  the  only  true  God,  and 
Jesus  Christ  Whom  Thou  hast  sent."  But  beside  this 
body  of  what  we  may  well  call  essential  truth,  there  are 
many  doctrines  capable  of  proof  from  the  holy  Scrip- 
tures and   witnessed   to  by  the   unbroken   tradition  of 

^  I  Eliz.  i.  36. 

'^  A  truth  contained  in  the  Creed  is  in  modern  theological  phraseology- 
said  to  be  defide  definita — a  defined  dogma. 


A    Teacher  come  from  God  1 3 

Christendom^  that  must  have  a  claim  upon  our  faith. 
When  we  apply  what  has  been  said  to  the  doctrine  of  a 
future  life  we  find  that  all  that  is  binding  upon  our 
acceptance  under  pain  of  heresy  is  the  statement  in  the 
Creed,  "  I  look  for  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  the 
life  of  the  world  to  come." 

It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  by  far  the  greater  part  of 
our  inquiry  into  the  future  life  will  be  in  the  department 
of  revelation  that  lies  outside  the  region  of  dogma.  The 
Church  has  settled  little  or  nothing.  We  have  then  a 
perfect  right  to  explore  for  ourselves  the  teaching  that 
may  fairly  be  gathered  from  the  written  Word  of  God, 
and  see  how  far  the  popular  beliefs  prevalent  in  the 
Christian  Church  are  supported  by  the  holy  Scriptures. 

Moreover,  outside  the  tradition  of  the  Church  and 
the  teaching  of  Holy  Writ  there  is  that  body  of 
doctrine  that  has  come  down  to  us  from  the  enlightened 
reason  of  pre-Christian  antiquity.  The  traditions  of 
Judaism  and  the  mythologies  of  Paganism  were,  we 
believe,  part  of  the  preparation  of  the  world  for  the 
reception  of  the  Gospel.  We  cannot  afford  to  neglect 
these  foregleams  and  anticipations  of  the  truth,  since 
they  are  in  many  ways  bound  up  with  the  teaching 
and  terminology  of  the  holy  Scriptures.  They, 
moreover,  often  furnish  the  only  answer  there  is  to 
the  question  as  to  what  impression  was  conveyed  to 
the  hearers  by  the  words  of  our  Lord  and  the  Apostles. 

^  A  truth  contained  in  Scripture  but  not  in  Creeds  is  said  to  be  de 
fide  definibili,  a  dogma  capable  of  definition. 


14  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

When  reason  is  found  to  have  arrived  at  beliefs 
very  similar  to  those  made  known  by  revelation,  we 
cannot  but  feel  that  our  faith  is  greatly  strengthened. 

In  a  very  marked  degree  men  of  science  have  found 
that  progress  can  only  be  made  by  continually  looking 
back  to  the  past.  It  has  been  well  said  that  advance 
in  natural  science  means  a  fuller  realisation  of  Newton's 
great  principles ;  that  progress  in  philosophy  means, 
"  back  to  Kant,"  and  in  politics,  "  back  to  Aristotle."  ^ 
It  is  equally  certain  that  progress  in  theology  must 
mean,  "back  to  the  Bible,"  since  the  sacred  Scriptures 
are  the  unchanging  depository  of  unalterable  truth 
"  once  delivered  to  the  saints."  We  have  greater  helps 
to  assist  us  to  the  exact  meaning  of  the  sacred  Text 
than  our  forefathers  possessed,  and  it  is  in  this  careful 
weighing  of  the  words  of  the  Bible  that  we  may  hope 
for  any  fresh  light  along  the  dark  paths  of  the  Unseen. 
Jesus  Christ  speaking  through  His  Church  is,  we 
believe,  our  "  teacher  come  from  God."  The  fact 
that  there  is  "  a  life  of  the  world  to  come"  He  plainly 
asserts,  and  we  accept  His  teaching  as  absolutely  final. 
For  any  knowledge  of  the  conditions  of  that  life  we 
must  refer  to  the  less  clear  doctrine  contained  in 
parables,  conversations,  and  the  apostolic  Epistles, 
trusting  to  the  promised  help  of  that  Holy  Spirit 
Who  "spake  by  the  prophets,"  and  Who  guided  the 
Evangelists  and  the  writers  of  the  rest  of  the  New 
Testament. 

1  SUidy  the  Sources,  Herder, 


11. 


B0&1?,  Soul  anb  Spirit 


"Then  shall  the  dust  return  to  the  earth  as  it  was;  and  the 
spirit  shall  return  unto  God  who  gave  it"  (Eccles.  xii.  7). 

"  The  souls  of  the  righteous  are  in  the  hand  of  God,  and  there 
shall  no  torment  touch  them.  In  the  sight  of  the  unwise  they 
seemed  to  die  :  and  their  departure  is  taken  for  misery,  and  their 
going  from  us  to  be  utter  destruction  ;  but  they  are  in  peace. 
For  though  they  be  punished  in  the  sight  of  men,  yet  is  their  hope 
full  of  immortality." 

But  "  the  hope  of  the  ungodly  is  like  dust  that  is  blown  away 
with  the  wind ;  like  a  thin  froth  that  is  driven  away  with  the 
storm ;  like  as  the  smoke  which  is  dispersed  here  and  there 
with  a  tempest,  and  passeth  away  as  the  remembrance  of  a  guest 
that  tarrieth  but  a  day"  (Wisdom  iii.  1-4  ;  \^  14). 


II. 
Boby,  Soul  an^  Spirit 

"\^7'HAT    is    man,    that    Thou    art    mindful    of 

The  Psalmist  turns  from  the  contemplation  of  the 
beauty  and  the  magnificence  of  the  inanimate  creation 
to  the  thought  of  the  apparent  littleness  and  insignifi- 
cance of  man. 

The  heavens  seem  to  him  worthily  to  witness  to 
God  as  their  Maker ;  the  silent  voices  of  the  stars  are 
eloquent  in  their  praise  of  the  power  and  wisdom  of 
the  Creator.  But  man  ?  What  is  man  that  God  should 
be  mindful  of  him,  since  man  alone  constantly  departs 
from  the  obedient  service  of  God  ?  "  What  is  man, 
that  Thou  art  mindful  of  him  ;  or  the  son  of  man, 
that  Thou  visitest  him  ? "  The  question  leads  the 
Psalmist  towards  the  answer.  Man,  if  he  has  affinity 
with  the  inanimate  and  animate  world  around  him, 
has  also  something  in  common  with  those  pure 
Intelligences  who  hold  a  place  above  man  and  below 
God.      "Thou  madest  him  lower  than  the  angels" — 

^  Ps.  viii.  4. 
C  17 


1 8  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

lower,  that  is,  than  those  purely  spiritual  beings  that 
rank  above  man  because  they  are  not  linked  with 
matter,  and  are  yet  far  below  God  since  they,  like 
man,  are  creatures,  and  owe  their  existence  to  God, 
the  almighty  Creator  of  all  things  visible  and  invisible. 
But  if  man  is  "  lower  than  the  angels,"  he  is  evidently 
placed  above  all  the  other  forms  of  created  being. 
God  has  made  man  lower  than  the  angels,  only  that 
He  may  "crown  him  with  glory  and  worship"  upon 
the  earth.  "  Thou  makest  him  to  have  dominion  of 
the  works  of  Thy  hands,  and  Thou  hast  put  all  things 
in  subjection  under  his  feet :  all  sheep  and  oxen,  yea, 
and  the  beasts  of  the  field  ;  the  fowls  of  the  air,  and 
the  fishes  of  the  sea,  and  whatsoever  walketh  through 
the  paths  of  the  seas."  This  excellence  of  man  is 
implied  by  the  fact  that  he  not  only  sums  up  all  the 
lower  degrees  of  life  in  his  own  being,  but  has  faculties 
that  are  peculiarly  his  own,  and  that  far  transcend  the 
powers  of  the  brute  creation. 

By  his  material  body  man  is  united  with  the 
inanimate  earth  on  which  he  walks ;  by  the  possession 
of  life  he  is  linked  with  the  vegetable  kingdom  ;  and 
by  his  sensitive  soul  he  shares  in  the  life  of  the  brutes. 
But  over  and  above  these  lower  forms  of  life  man 
has  mental  endowments  of  a  very  high  order ;  his  soul 
is  not  only  sensitive,  but  also  rational.  Now  the 
question  is  naturally  suggested,  Has  man  by  his 
reason  and  memory  and  other  mental  phenomena 
something  in  common  with  a  form  of  being   that   is 


Body,  Soul  and  Spirit  19 

purely  spiritual,  and  with  God,  the  "  Father  of 
spirits  "  ?  1 

Whom  shall  we  ask  to  answer  such  a  question  ? 
If  we  listen  to  the  enlightened  reason  of  mankind, 
from  the  dawn  of  history  down  to  the  present  day, 
we  shall  be  told  that  in  man  there  is  something — 
call  it  soul,  spirit,  or  what  name  we  will — that  lifts 
him  above  all  other  forms  of  being  of  which  we  have 
any  experimental  knowledge,  and  places  him  in  rela- 
tionship with  pure  Intelligences  of  a  spirit  world,  and 
with  God  Who  is  Spirit. 

If  we  turn  to  the  religious  beliefs  of  mankind  we 
find  that,  speaking  generally,  everywhere  and  at  all 
times  all  religions  have  taught  that  man  is  composed 
of  a  material  body  and  of  some  "  inscrutable  entity " 
that  is  called  the  soul  or  spirit.  In  the  following 
pages,  however,  it  is  taken  for  granted  that  God  has 
made  known  certain  truths  by  revelation,  and  that  this 
revelation  is  embedded  in  Holy  Scripture,  summed  up 
in  the  Creeds,  and  harmonised  and  systematised  in  that 
body  of  theology  that  is  held  in  common  throughout 
the  Catholic  Church. 

It  is  not  of  course  implied  that  God  has  not  revealed 
Himself  and  made  known  many  truths  in  other  ways. 
By  the  order  of  Nature,  by  reason,  by  experience,  as 
well  as  by  the  voice  of  prophets  and  by  the  sending 
of  His  Son,  God  has  throughout  the  ages  spoken  to 
those  who  have  ears  to  hear.     God  cannot  contradict 

^  Heb.  xii.  9. 


26  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen    World 

Himself,  and  therefore  the  less  certain  voice  of  human 
speculation  must  be  prepared  to  revise  its  conclusions 
if  at  any  time  they  are  clearly  contrary  to  some  truth 
declared  by  a  more  sure  witness.  We  turn  then  to  the 
Bible,  and  ask  if  it  contains  any  answer  to  the  question, 
What  exactly  are  we  to  understand  by  the  human  soul  ? 
In  reply,  we  are  obliged  to  acknowledge  that  the  Bible 
does  not  give  us  any  strict  definition  of  the  soul.  Its 
existence  is  usually  taken  for  granted  in  Holy  Writ,  but 
now  and  again  we  come  across  passages^  that  would, 
if  they  stood  alone,  imply  that  the  soul  is  merely  the 
principle  of  bodily  life,  and  therefore  entirely  dependent 
upon  the  body.  By  far  the  greater  part,  however,  of 
the  teaching  of  the  Bible  speaks  of  the  soul  as  the 
spiritual  personality  of  man.^  The  soul  or  spirit  of 
man  is  spoken  of  as  the  real  self,  and  it  is  because  man 
is  a  personal  spirit  that  the  Bible  represents  him  as 
having  dominion  over  all  the  lower  forms  of  life.  The 
Bible  seems  to  take  for  granted  that  the  ''  Ego  " — the 
real  self  in  man — is  a  spiritual  entity  that  "informs" 
the  physical  organism. 

This  we  shall  have  to  touch  upon  when  we  come  to 
the  consideration  of  the  teaching  of  the  Bible  as  to  the 
life  of  the  spirit  after  the  death  of  the  body.  At 
present  it  is  enough  to  say  that  the  holy  Scriptures 
plainly  assert  the  existence  of  a  spiritual  soul  in  man, 

^  e.g.  "They  are  dead  which  sought  the  young  child's  life,  i.e.  soul" 
{jT]v  ^vxw)-     St.  Matt.  ii.  20. 

2  St.  Matt.  X.  28  ;  xi.  29  ;  xii.  18  ;  xvi.  25,  etc. 


Body,  Soul  and  Spirit  21 

but  do  not  give  a  scientific  definition  of  the  nature  of 
the  soul. 

It  would  therefore  be  possible,  while  firmly  believing 
in  the  existence  of  a  personal  spirit  in  man,  to  offer  no 
definition  of  its  nature.  But  we  may  not  forget  that 
what  we  call  revelation  does  not  make  the  use  of  our 
reason  superfluous.  The  truths  of  revelation  are  to  be 
expressed — imperfectly,  no  doubt — in  human  language, 
and  the  intellect  is  never  better  employed  than  when  it 
is  occupied  with  the  effort  to  place  the  sublime  mysteries 
of  God  as  clearly  as  may  be  before  the  minds  of  men. 
Hence  we  may  well  believe  that  God  delayed  His  final 
message  by  Jesus  Christ  until  the  intellect  of  Greece 
had  so  ripened  that  it  became  possible  to  express  the 
deepest  truths — such  as  the  Trinity  and  Unity  of  God, 
and  the  Incarnation  of  the  Eternal  Word — in  something 
like  adequate  language.  What  the  subtlety  of  Greek 
thought  thus  expressed  in  language,  the  universal  empire 
of  imperial  Rome  proclaimed  throughout  the  world. 
God  never  employs  miracle  to  do  that  which  may  be 
done  by  man  through  the  use  of  those  gifts  that  we  speak 
of  as  belonging  to  the  natural  order,  and  yet  are  as 
truly  gifts  from  God  as  any  that  we  call  supernatural. 

It  was,  then,  when  "  the  fulness  of  the  time  was  come" 
that  God  "  sent  forth  His  Son."  1  Jesus  Christ  taught 
men  the  truth,  but  He  left  it  to  them  to  harmonise  the 
truth  and  to  express  it  in  the  best  language  at  their 
command.     Bearing  this  in  mind,  we  are  not  surprised 

■^  Gal.  iv.  4. 


22  The  Soul  m  the  Unseen    World 

that  the  Church  has  from  the  very  first  made  use  of  the 
stores  of  learning  that  were  placed  at  her  feet  by  the 
conversion  of  the  Gentile  world.  The  prophecy  of 
Isaiah  received  a  new  fulfilment :  "  The  forces — the 
wealth — of  the  Gentiles  shall  come  unto  thee,"  "ye 
shall  eat  the  riches  of  the  Gentiles,  and  in  their  glory 
shall  ye  boast  yourselves."^  St.  Augustine  says:  "If 
those  who  are  called  philosophers',  and  especially  the 
Platonists,  have  said  aught  that  is  true  and  in  harmony 
with  our  faith,  we  ought  not  to  shrink  from  it,  but  to 
claim  it  for  our  own  use." 

When,  then,  we  ask  for  a  definition  of  the  soul,  we 
find  that  from  the  beginning  the  Christian  psychologists 
have  adopted  the  definitions  of  Aristotle,  and  have 
borrowed  much  from  Plato.  We  note  this  not  only  in 
the  Scholastic  theologians,  but  in  those  early  writers  of 
whom  Melito  of  Sardis  and  Tertullian  are  examples. 
Thus  the  soul  is  defined  to  be  "the  first  principle  of 
life,"  ^  and  "  the  first  actualising  principle  of  a  physical 
organised  body,  having  life  potentially."  ^  Or  again,  the 
soul  is  said  to  be  the  "substantial  form,"  or  "act"  of  the 
body,  which  brings  life  to  every  part  of  its  material 
subject,  constituting  one  person,  which  we  call  self^\h-dX 
which  we  mean  when  we  say  "  I." 

The  soul  is  spiritual,  because  it  is  the  seat  of  such 

^  Is.  Ix.  5  ;  Ixi.  6. 

'■^  "Primum  principium  vitK,"  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  Summa  Theo., 
pars.  i.  q.  75>  a.  I. 

^  'H  ^vxn  ^(^TLV  ivreXexei-ci-  i)  irpdsTri  aiofMUTOs  (pvaiKov  ^urju  ix'^^'^^^ 
dvvdfiei,  and,  i]  TrpdoTrj  ej'reXe'xeict  (Xbifiaros  (pvcnKoO  opyaviKov. — ARISTOTLE. 


Body,  Soul  and  Spirit  23 

spiritual  activities  as  those  of  thought,  self-consciousness, 
and  will.  The  subject  or  seat  of  these  spiritual  powers 
must  itself  be  spiritual. 

It  is  a  substance,  by  which  we  understand  that  which 
exists  per  se,  which  subsists  in  itself  independently  of  a 
subject  of  inhesion  such  as  the  body. 

It  is  simple,  because  not  composed  of  parts ;  it  has  no 
"  extension,"  it  does  not  occupy  space. 

It  is  therefore  necessarily  indivisible,  since  it  is  not  in 
any  sense  composite,  or  the  result  of  an  aggregation  of 
distinct  atoms  or  parts. 

It  is  a  principle,  i.e.  the  source  from  which  something 
comes,  or  which  produces  something  or  makes  it  known  ; 
thus  the  soul  is  the  source  or  principle  of  life. 

We  may  then  conclude  that  the  human  soul  is  a 
spiritual  substance,  simple  or  indivisible,  that  it  is  the 
primary  principle  of  life,  which  exists  per  se  or  inde- 
pendently of  any  union  with  matter. 

The  increased  facilities  for  the  textual  criticism  of 
Holy  Scripture  that  characterise  the  present  day  seem 
to  lead  Biblical  psychologists  to  conclusions  which,  if 
they  were  eventually  accepted,  would  to  some  extent 
alter  these  definitions  that  have  hitherto  been  popular 
with  theologians.  At  present,  however,  the  speculations 
as  to  the  precise  shades  of  meaning  of  certain  words  of 
the  Bible  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  proved  that  such 
alteration  is  necessary. 

While  the  holy  Scriptures  are  accepted  as  contain- 
ing the  true  doctrine,  materialism  must  necessarily  be 


24  The  Soul  in  the   Unsee^i   World 

rejected.  There  have  always  been  men  of  note  who 
believe  the  soul  to  be  merely  the  principle  of  life,  and 
who  deny  that  it  is  a  spiritual  substance  in  the  sense 
that  theologians — pagan  and  Christian — have  attached 
to  the  words.  They  agree  with  Lucretius,  who  taught 
that  the  "  soul  is  born  with  the  body,  grows  and  decays 
with  the  body,  and  therefore  perishes  with  the  body." 
But  these  materialists  do  not  pretend  that  the  sacred 
Scriptures  support  their  doctrine. 

The  origin  of  the  soul  brings  us  face  to  face  with  the 
great  and  insoluble  mystery  that  surrounds  the  origin  of 
all  life.  At  one  time  it  was  thought  that  life  in  its  lowest 
forms  might  possibly  arise  out  of  inanimate  matter,  but 
the  development  of  chemistry  and  the  power  of  the 
microscope  have  proved  fatal  to  the  theory  of  spontaneous 
generation.  Dr.  Tyndall  confessed  that,  "no  shred  of 
trustworthy  experimental  testimony  exists  to  prove 
that  life  in  our  day  has  ever  appeared  independently  of 
antecedent  life."  Professor  Huxley  acknowledged  that 
the  doctrine  of  biogenesis — life  from  life —  is  "  victorious 
all  along  the  line  at  the  present  day."  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  then,  science  can  offer  no  explanation  of  the 
mystery  of  life. 

The  attempted  solution  of  the  question,  whence  life 
came  on  our  planet,  by  the  suggestion  put  forward  some 
years  ago  by  Sir  William  Thompson — that  the  first 
life-germ  came  to  us  on  an  aerolite  shot  from  some 
distant  orb — has  not  only  no  shred  of  evidence  to 
support  it,  but  even  if  it  were  true  offers  no  sort  of 


Body,  Soul  and  Spirit  25 

solution  of  the  mystery  of  the  origin  of  life.  The 
question,  whence  came  the  germ  of  life  on  the  aerolite, 
leaves  the  mystery  exactly  where  it  was.  We  must 
therefore  either  take  up  an  agnostic  position  and  say 
we  know  nothing  about  the  origin  of  life,  or  accept  the 
conclusion  that  enlightened  reason  has  arrived  at,  that 
there  is  a  self-existent  First  Cause,  the  Lord  and  Life-, 
giver,  from  whom  life  in  all  its  forms  has  originated. 

There  have  been  various  theories  as  to  the  origin 
of  the  soul.  The  ancient  Eastern  religions  taught 
that  the  soul  exists  before  the  body,  and  is  sent  to 
inhabit  one  body  after  another  until  it  works  its  way 
towards  emancipation  from  separate  existence,  and  is 
absorbed  in  the  ocean  of  life.  Plato  in  the  West  taught 
something  of  the  same  kind.  According  to  his  theory 
all  souls  were  called  into  existence  at  some  remote 
period,  and  for  some  fault  a  soul  is  sent  to  inhabit  a 
body  as  a  punishment.  Only  such  souls  as  in  their 
pre-existent  state  have  contemplated  truth  and  abstract 
''ideas"  can  dwell  in  a  human  body.  It  is  by  reminis- 
cence of  the  beauties  that  the  soul  witnessed  before  its 
union  with  the  body  that  it  can  hope  to  rise  out  of  the 
degradation  of  incarnation  and  attain  to  a  purely 
spiritual  existence. 

This  theory  of  the  pre-existence  of  the  soul  influenced 
many  of  the  schools  of  thought  that  sprang  up  in  the 
early  Christian  Church.  It  was,  however,  always  vigor- 
ously opposed  by  the  great  Fathers  of  the  Church,  and 
fell  under  the  condemnation  of  the  second  Council  of 


26  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

Constantinople.  If  we  ask  why  the  theory  was  con- 
demned, the  answer  is  that  no  shred  of  proof  to  support 
it  could  be  adduced  from  the  holy  Scriptures.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  the  theory  taught  by  some  of 
the  Gnostic  sects  and  by  the  Manichaeans — that  the 
soul  is  an  emanation  from  the  Divine  Being. 

Very  little  is  taught  as  to  the  origin  of  the  soul  in 
Holy  Writ.  In  the  Book  of  Genesis  we  read  that  "  the 
Lord  God  formed  man  of  the  dust  of  the  ground,  and 
breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life;  and  man 
became  a  living  soul."^  Whatever  may  be  the  exact 
meaning  of  these  words,  they  certainly  imply  that  the 
living  principle  in  man  is  due  to  some  special  com- 
munication of  the  divine  life,  quite  unlike  anything 
bestowed  upon  the  brutes.  When  the  beasts  of  the 
earth  were  called  into  being  we  read  that  "  God  said, 
Let  the  earth  bring  forth  the  living  creature  after  his 
kind"  ;^  but  when  man  is  to  be  formed  "God  said,  Let 
Us  make  man  in  Our  image,  after  Our  likeness."^  How- 
ever figurative  this  language  may  be  it  is  simply 
misleading  unless  it  means  that  man  stands  in  a  unique 
relationship  to  God.  Man  is  said  to  be  made  in  the 
image  of  God  ;  he  is  the  visible  likeness  of  the  Invisible, 
and  as  such  he  has  been  given  dominion  over  the  lower 
forms  of  life  upon  the  earth.  "  And  God  said,  Let  Us 
make  man  in  Our  image,  after  Our  likeness :  and  let 
them  have  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over 
the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  the  cattle,  and  over  all  the 

^  Gen.  ii.  7.  '^  Ibid.  i.  24.  '^  Ibid.  i.  26. 


Body,  Soul  and  Spirit  27 

earth,  and  over  every  creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon 
the  earth." 

It  is  one  of  the  simplest  commonplaces  of  Christian 
doctrine  that  man's  likeness  to  God  is  chiefly  in  the 
soul.  It  must  be  so,  since  God  is  Spirit.  We  conclude, 
therefore,  that  the  soul  of  man  is  a  spirit,  and  that  it 
resembles  God  in  its  spiritual  personality — its  self-con- 
sciousness and  its  moral  freedom  ;  that  the  soul  brings 
life  to  the  body,  as  God  brings  life  to  all  creation  ;  that 
the  soul  sees,  hears,  and  remembers  things  long  past, 
while  God  knows  all  things,  past,  present,  and  to  come ; 
that  the  soul  has  free-will  and  affections  which  enable 
it  to  choose  and  to  reject,  to  love  and  to  hate,  while 
God  is  Almighty,  and  has  made  known  that  He  is  Love. 

It  is  of  course  true  that  man  falls  infinitely  short  of 
the  Divine  perfection  of  which  he  is  the  image.  The 
spirit  of  man  can  only  do  imperfectly  and  in  absolute 
dependence  on  God,  what  God  does  perfectly  and 
of  Himself  The  question,  whether  or  no  the  soul  is 
immortal  and  thus  has  another  point  of  likeness  to  the 
Eternal,  is  one  that  will  be  touched  upon  in  its  proper 
place. 

Among  other  passages  of  Holy  Scripture  that  speak 
of  the  soul  as  a  creation  of  God  we  may  note  the  words 
in  Ecclesiastes  where — at  the  death  of  the  body — the 
spirit  is  said  to  return  "unto  God  Who  gave  it";^  and 
the  verse  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  in  which  God  is 
called   the  "  Father  of  spirits,"  and  men  "  the   fathers 

^  Eccles.  xii.  7. 


28  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

of  our  flesh."  1  Again,  the  prophet  Isaiah  represents 
God  as  speaking  of  "the  souls  which  I  have  made."^ 
There  are  some  references  to  man  in  the  Book  of  Job 
that  seem  to  repeat  the  story  of  the  creation  as  recorded 
in  Genesis.  In  the  thirty-second  chapter  we  read 
"There  is  a  spirit  (Trvev/uLa)  in  [mortal]  man:  and  the 
inspiration  (irvori)  of  the  Almighty  giveth  them  under- 
standing " ;  ^  and  in  the  thirty-third  chapter,  "  The 
spirit  {irvevixa)  of  God  hath  made  me,  and  the  breath 
{irvo}))  of  the  Almighty  hath  given  me  life."* 

We  gather  then  from  reason,  as  well  as  from  revela- 
tion, that,  since  all  life  comes  from  God,  so  especially 
must  that  conscious,  personal,  spiritual  life  that  differ- 
entiates man  from  the  lower  animal  creation.  This 
life  of  the  spirit  comes  from  God  not  only  as  a  gift, 
but  as  a  gift  from  out  of  His  own  Divine  Being.  AH 
life  is  God's  gift,  but  the  life  of  the  spiritual  soul  is 
a  gift  of  the  life  of  God.  It  is  therefore  usually  believed 
that  each  soul  is  a  special  creation,  and  that  con- 
sequently the  soul  is  not  generated  with  the  body. 
It  cannot  be  said  that  the  Church  has  ever  condemned 
the  Traducianist  theory,  i.e.  that  the  soul  is  begotten 
with  the  body  {ex  seminis  traduce\  but  the  weight  of 
orthodox  opinion  is  in  favour  of  Creationism,  i,e.  that 

^  Heb.  xii.  9.  ^  Isa.  Ivii.  16. 

^  Job  xxxii.  8.  Another  rendering  is,  "  It  is  a  spirit  in  man,  and  the 
breath  of  the  Almighty,  that  giveth  ..."  In  Job  xii.  10  we  read  :  "  In 
Whose  hand  is  the  soul  {^vxv)  oi  every  living  thing,  and  the  breath 
{Trpev/Jia)  of  all  mankind." 

■*  /did.  xxxiii.  4. 


Body,  Sottl  and  Spirit  29 

the  soul  is  created  by  God  and  infused  into  the  body.^ 
In  Holy  Scripture  the  immaterial  part  of  man  is 
sometimes  called  the  soul  ^  and  sometimes  the  spirit.^ 
The  Greek  word  for  soul  is  used  in  the  Bible  in  various 
senses.  Often  it  stands  for  the  whole  immaterial  part 
of  man,  as  in  the  Book  of  Revelation  where  we  read 
of  the  "souls  (V^fx«?)  of  them  that  were  slain  for  the 
word  of  God."  *  In  other  passages  of  Scripture  "  soul " 
is  the  word  used  to  signify  the  life  of  the  body,^ 
whereas  the  word  "spirit"  is  used  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  of  purely  spiritual  beings  such  as  the  angels :  when 
it  is  used  with  reference  to  man  it  usually  conveys  the 
idea  that  man  in  his  innermost  being  is  spirit,  gifted 
with  spiritual  gifts  and  brought  into  relationship  with 
God.« 

^  I  have  gone  into  all  these  questions  as  to  the  soul  much  more  fully  in 
my  book,  The  Soul  Here  and  Hereafter. 

^  St.  Matt.  X.  28,  29.  ^  Eccles.  xii.  7. 

^  Rev.  vi.  9.  It  may  be  that  this  is  merely  a  figurative  expression,  and 
that  as  "the  blood  is  the  life" — so  here  by  "the  souls  of  them  that  were 
slain "  is  meant  their  life-blood  poured  out  as  in  sacrifice  appeahng  to 
God  for  vengeance.  ^  St.  Matt.  ii.  20. 

^  St.  Augustine  writes  :  "  There  are  three  things  whereof  man  consists — 
spirit,  soul,  and  body  ;  which  again  are  called  two,  because  often  the  soul 
is  named  together  with  the  spirit,  for  a  certain  reasonable  part  of  the  same, 
which  beasts  are  without,  is  called  the  spirit :  that  which  is  chief  in  us  is  the 
spirit ;  next,  the  life  whereby  we  are  joined  to  the  body  is  called  the  soul ; 
finally,  the  body  itself,  since  it  is  visible,  is  that  which  in  us  is  last." — De 
fide  et  Symbolo.  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  says  :  "Know  that  thou  art  a  two- 
fold man,  consisting  of  body  and  soul."  See  also  Delitzsch,  Biblical 
Psychology.  Dr.  Liddon  says  :  '*  It  cannot  be  concluded  that  man  con- 
sists of  three  essentially  distinct  elements.  .  .  .  Man's  soul  is  not  a  third 
nature,  poised  between  his  spirit  and  his  body.  ...  It  is  the  outer  clothing 
of  the  spirit,  one  with  it  in  essence  yet  distinct  in  functions." — Some  Ele?nents 
of  Religion. 


30  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen    World 

There  are  not  however  two  souls  in  man,  one  merely 
animal  and  another  spiritual.  The  soul  is  one,  but  it  is 
looked  at  in  a  two-fold  aspect.  St.  Paul  in  one  or  two 
passages  in  his  epistles  uses  language  that  seems  at 
first  sight — but  not  in  reality — to  support  those  who 
assert  that  the  soul  and  spirit  are  quite  distinct :  "  1 
pray  God  your  whole  spirit  {irvev/uLu)  and  soul  (}l^vx>l) 
and  body  be  preserved  blameless  unto  the  coming  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  ^  The  same  Apostle  makes  a 
similar  distinction  when  he  speaks  of  men  as  either 
natural .  (-v/r^;)^f/c 09),  or  spiritual  (Tn/eiyyotar^/co?),  or  carnal 
{aapKiKog)  '-  ^  "  The  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things 
of  the  Spirit  of  God  :  for  they  are  foolishness  unto  him  ; 
neither  can  he  know  them,  because  they  are  spiritually 
discerned.     But  he  that  is  spiritual  judgeth  all  things."  ^ 

Spirit  is  probably  the  highest  faculty  in  man — that 
which  is  peculiar  to  man,  and  enables  him  to  become 
the  recipient  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  soul  may  thus 
be  looked  upon  at  one  time  as  the  principle  of  bodily 
life,  and  at  another  as  the  principle  of  rational  life  by 
which  man  is  made  capable  of  communion  with  God. 
The  man  whose  reason  is  elevated  by  faith  may  well  be 
called  spiritual,  while  the  man  whose  life  is  merely 
earthly  is  fitly  called  natural,  and  he  who  gives  himself 
up  to  sensuality  is  rightly  spoken  of  as  carnal.^ 

^  I  Thess.  V.  23.  2  I  Cor.  iii.  3.  ^  i  Cor.  ii.  14,  15. 

■*  I  have  not  attempted  here  to  discuss  at  all  fully  this  subject  as  to  the 
soul  and  spirit.  These  chapters  are  merely  introductory  to  those  that 
follow,  and  only  aim  at  stating  briefly  the  doctrine  of  the  soul,  before 
considering  what  may  be  thought  as  to  its  life  after  death. 


III. 

36  tbe  Soul  3nimortal? 


"  We  have  the  germ  of  endless  Hfe  ;  and  death,  Hke  birth,  is  the 
starting-point  of  a  new  and  rapid  development,  an  indispensable 
transformation  like  those  living  organisms  which  are  so  marvel- 
lously metamorphosed  before  our  eyes. 

We  carry  each  one  within  us  a  hidden  treasure  of  powers  ; 
which  surge  and  eddy  here,  but  will  find  their  vent  elsewhere.  It 
is  this  hidden  treasure  which  death  reveals."—  PicRE  Gratry. 


III. 
56  tbe  Soul  3mmovtal? 

THE  fact  that  we  have  no  experimental  knowledge 
of  the  soul  apart  from  the  body  has  led  many  in 
all  ages  to  question  the  assertion  that  the  spirit  lives  on 
after  the  death  of  the  body.  On  the  other  hand,  Plato 
and  a  multitude  of  the  most  intellectually  gifted  men  of 
antiquity  taught  that  the  soul  not  only  survived  death 
but  that  it  lived  on  eternally. 

It  would  be  easy  to  multiply  quotations.  The  follow- 
ing words  that  Plato  puts  into  the  mouth  of  Socrates 
are  representative  of  the  tone  of  the  great  masters  of 
pre-Christian  thought  in  the  West :  "  When  death 
assails  a  man,  the  mortal  part  of  him,  as  appears,  dies, 
but  the  immortal  forthwith  departs,  safe  and  incor- 
ruptible, giving  place  to  death.  Beyond  all  else  then,  is 
the  soul  an  immortal  and  indestructible  being ;  more- 
over, our  souls  will  in  reality  survive  in  Hades."  ^ 

Among  the  Jews  there  was  no  absolute  agreement  as 
to  the  essential  permanence  of  the  human  soul.  The 
orthodox  believed  that  the  souls  of  the  righteous 
enjoyed  hereafter  a  life  of  endless  bliss,  but  they  varied 
in  their  way  of  speaking  of  the  fate  of  the  hopelessly 
wicked. 

1  Phado,  Ivi.  107. 

^  33 


I 


34  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

When  we  come  to  the  Bible  it  must  be  confessed  that 
a  careful  study  of  its  language  makes  it  difficult  to  say 
that  the  essential  permanence  of  the  human  soul  is 
unmistakably  taught  in  its  pages.  There  is,  of  course, 
no  question  that  the  holy  Scriptures  teach  that  the 
righteous  live  for  ever,  but  this  eternal  life  is  often 
spoken  of  as  a  special  "  gift  of  God,"  and  not  as  inherent 
in  the  nature  of  the  soul.  The  question  is,  Does  the 
Bible  teach  that  every  soul  is  by  its  own  nature  im- 
mortal, or  does  it  lead  us  to  suppose  that  the  soul  is  in 
itself  mortal,  but  has  immortality  placed  within  its  reach 
on  certain  conditions?  Or,  does  the  Bible — while  re- 
vealing clearly  the  fact  that  the  righteous  will  live  for 
ever — draw  a  veil  over  the  fate  of  the  wicked,  neither 
affirming  nor  denying  their  immortality  ? 

To  these  questions  we  must  try  to  find  an  answer. 

Hitherto  it  has  been  taken  for  granted  by  the  orthodox 
Christian  that  the  soul  is  immortal,  and  it  has  also  been 
thought  that  the  holy  Scriptures  are  perfectly  clear  on 
the  subject.  Of  late  years,  however,  men  have  been 
paying  great  attention  to  the  exact  meaning  of  the 
language  of  the  Bible,  and  the  significance  of  the  words 
used  in  the  original  text  of  the  New  Testament. 

A  very  careful  and  thoughtful  modern  nonconformist 
divine  writes  :  "  The  Christian  doctrine  of  the  immortality 
of  the  soul,  is  a  unique  example  of  an  opinion  destitute 
of  any  foundation  in  the  Bible  and  in  some  measure 
contradicting  it,  derived  only  from  Greek  philosophy,  yet 
held  firmly  by  large  numbers  of  intelligent  Christians 


Is  the  Soul  Immortal?  35 

and  Christian  teachers  and  writers  on  the  mistaken 
supposition  that  it  is  taught  in  the  Bible.  Its  preval- 
ence proves  how  uncertain  is  the  relation  between 
popular  religious  opinion  and  the  actual  teaching  of 
Christ  and  the  Evangelists  and  Apostles."  And  in 
another  passage :  "...  the  Bible  never  traces  the 
eternal  life  offered  to  the  righteous  to  any  intrinsic 
and  endless  permanence  of  the  human  soul."  And 
once  more,  "  Look  at  it  as  we  may,  if  human  conscious- 
ness will  in  all  cases  continue  throughout  an  endless 
succession  of  ages,  it  does  so  simply  and  only  because 
this  is  the  will  of  God.  That  this  is  His  will  we  have 
no  proof  within  or  without  the  Bible.  ...  the  writers 
of  the  New  Testament  who  never  assert  the  essential 
and  endless  permanence  of  human  consciousness,  and 
assert  frequently  that  the  future  life  of  men  is  contin- 
gent on  their  present  action,  never  assert  that  their 
future  existence  is  so  contingent.  For  to  them,  life 
is  much  more  than  existence."^ 

It  will  be  seen  from  these  quotations  that  great  care 
must  be  taken  to  gauge  the  exact  meaning  of  the  words 
used  in  the  New  Testament  by  those  who  desire  to 
ascertain  the  precise  significance  of  the  teaching  of  our 
Lord  and  His  Apostles.  The  conclusions  already 
quoted  are  in  the  main  the  same  as  those  reached  by 
Delitzsch  and  the  writers  of  his  school.  Delitzsch,  in 
his  System  of  Biblical  Psychology^  writes :  "  Death 
is    .    .    .    the    final    destiny   of  the    whole  man.     How 

1  The  Last  Things,  by  J.  A.  Beet,  D.D. 


36  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

then  is  it  possible  to  speak  of  the  immortality  of 
man,  or  even  only  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul  ? 
If  we  understand  by  the  immortality  of  the  soul  its 
indissolubility  as  the  result  of  its  simple  nature,  the 
expression  does  not  affirm  what  we  have  in  view. 
For  that  that  which  is  not  compounded  cannot  be 
dissolved,  is  self-evident ;  but  is  everything  which 
cannot  perish  in  the  way  of  dissolution  therefore  of 
necessity  eternal?  Even  if  we  understand  by  the 
immortality  of  the  soul  and  the  spirit  their  incapability 
of  annihilation,  the  expression  is,  to  say  the  least,  un- 
scriptural.  For  death  and  annihilation  in  Scripture 
are  not  by  any  means  coincident  ideas.  In  general, 
Scripture  nowhere  says  that  anything  whatever  of 
what  has  been  created  is  annihilated  ;  and,  so  far  as 
our  inquiry  reaches,  we  see  no  atom  perish.  But, 
from  the  nature  of  things,  it  by  no  means  follows 
that  God's  word  of  might  cannot  again  transplant  into 
nonentity  that  which  it  has  called  into  existence."  ^ 

This  teaching  is  so  unlike  the  simple  popular  belief 
held  by  all  Christians  that  it  requires  some  careful 
thought  if  it  is  to  be  understood.  The  writers  who, 
with  Delitzsch,  endeavour  to  base  their  doctrine  on 
the  Bible  alone,  and  who  refuse  to  accept  the  consensus 
of  Church  teaching  as  the  true  interpretation  of  the 
Bible,  seem  to  hold  that  the  sacred  Scriptures  imply 

^  Delitzsch  distinguishes  between  "immortality"  and  the  "eternal 
personal  continuance  of  being  of  all  personal  natures."  Pp.  473-4  of  the 
second  edition  translated  by  the  Rev.  R.  E.  Wallis,  Ph.D.  (T.  and 
T.  Clark.) 


Is  the  Soul  Immortal?  2>7 

that  continued  self- consciousness  is  not  necessarily 
part  of  the  continued  existence  of  the  soul  after  the 
death  of  the  body.  They  teach  that  the  soul  may 
possibly  continue  an  eternal  existence  without  eternal 
consciousness.  Hence  Delitzsch  says :  "  Death,  as 
such,  does  not,  it  is  true,  force  man  back  into  abso- 
lute nothing,  but  back  within  the  limit  of  that 
nothingness  which  preceded  his  coming  into  being. 
That  man  continues  self-conscious  throughout  death, 
and  that  it  is  possible  for  him  to  live  though  he  dies, 
this  is  the  operation  of  redeeming  grace,  which,  for 
all  who  lay  hold  on  it,  changes  death  into  life,  and 
permits  us  sometimes  to  behold  in  the  countenance 
of  dying  persons  the  bright  gleam  of  heaven  opened 
to  them.  This  redeeming  grace  has,  even  for  those 
who  reject  it,  placed  a  limit  to  the  power  of  death."  ^ 

That  the  soul,  apart  from  the  gift  of  God,  is  not 
immortal  may  be  granted,  but  there  is  no  proof  that  God 
only  gives  immortality  to  those  who  accept  "  redeeming 
grace."  It  might  appear  from  the  above  quotation  that 
Delitzsch  denies  personal  continuance  of  being  to  the 
reprobate,  but  he  does  not  do  so.  He  writes  that  at 
the  resurrection  the  "souls  of  the  ungodly  hasten  to 
their  bodies,  which  arise  by  God's  creative  mighty 
operation  contemporary  with  the  call,"  ^  and  asserts 
that  "  in  hell  the  turba  of  the  ungodly,  in  that  wrathful 
fire  of  hell  (whereof  elementary  fire  is  only  a  remote 
created  type),  sets  on  fire  its  natural  wheel  of  life."^ 
1  p.  472.  -  p.  543.  '^  p.  544- 


38  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

And  again,  "  when  the  mighty  call  of  God's  Son  .  .  . 
goes  forth  to  those  who  thus  lie  in  the  graves,  then,  as  in 
the  Old  Testament  God's  angel  said  to  Daniel,  shall  the 
many  who  sleep  under  the  earth  awake,  some  to  ever- 
lasting life,  some  to  everlasting  disgrace  and  shame."  ^ 

It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  the  school  of  writers 
referred  to  insist  upon  the  uncertainty  in  the  teaching 
of  the  New  Testament  as  to  the  essential  permanence 
of  the  consciousness  of  the  soul.  The  wicked,  they 
appear  to  teach,  may,  as  far  as  the  Scriptures  are 
concerned,  so  far  fall  under  the  dominion  of  death  as 
to  forfeit,  or  not  gain,  that  eternal  consciousness  which 
is  bestowed  as  a  "  gift  of  God "  when  it  will  conduce 
to  the  happiness  of  the  soul.  These  authors  do  not 
however  venture  to  assert  that  this  doctrine  is  clearly 
taught  in  Holy  Writ,  but  that  Holy  Scripture  is  patient 
of  such  an  interpretation.  There  is  much  to  make  us 
wish  the  doctrine  might  be  true,  but  there  is  also  not 
a  little  that  makes  it  very  doubtful.  It  seems  not  very 
unlike  the  older  belief  in  conditional  immortality,  which 
involves  the  annihilation  of  the  wicked. 

The  fact  that  the  popular  belief  within  and  without 
the  historical  Church  is  opposed  to  any  form  of  con- 
ditional immortality  does  not  necessarily  prove  the 
doctrine  to  be  false,  but  it  shifts  the  07tus  probandi 
upon  those  who  maintain  the  doctrine.  The  Church 
has  never  defined,  we  believe,  what  is  meant  by  ever- 
lasting damnation,  so  that  if  it  could  be  proved  that 
the   Bible  does  not  teach  the  everlasting  permanence 

1  p.  569. 


Is  the  Soul  Innnortal?  39 

of  human  consciousness,  the  Church  might  interpret 
the  Bible  to  teach  that  the  wicked  are  body  and  soul 
literally  destroyed  and  consumed  after  the  final  judg- 
ment. But  the  most  careful  consideration  of  Holy 
Scripture  and  of  all  the  arguments  hitherto  put  forth 
in  defence  of  conditional  immortality  fail  (in  the 
opinion  of  many  who  are  desirous  to  believe  the  doctrine) 
to  meet  the  difficulties  of  the  case.  There  are  passages 
of  Scripture  that  are  opposed  to  conditional  immortality, 
and  these,  taken  in  connection  with  the  unfailing 
tradition  of  Christendom  as  to  the  meaning  of  the 
Bible,  make  it  at  present  well-nigh  impossible  to  accept 
the  doctrine.  Those  who  accept  the  Bible  cannot 
entirely  ignore  the  Scriptural  office  of  the  Church. 

The  Church  was  fashioned  by  Jesus  Christ  to  be 
our  teacher,  and,  although  she  must  show  by  Holy 
Scripture  that  she  is  teaching  no  new  doctrine,  she 
is  certainly  entitled  in  a  question  of  interpretation 
of  Scripture  to  say  in  what  sense  she  has  always 
understood  the  words  of  her  Lord  and  the  writings 
of  His  Apostles.  It  is  of  course  perfectly  true  that 
the  doctrine  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul  was  taught 
as  a  part  of  Greek  Philosophy,  but  on  that  account  it 
became  imperative  that  our  Lord  should  plainly  con- 
demn the  doctrine  if  it  were  false.  The  doctrine  could 
not  be  ignored.  If,  on  the  contrary.  His  words  seemed 
to  those  who  heard  them  to  sanction  the  belief,  and 
if  our  Lord  knew  that  His  teaching  would  lead  His 
Church  to  believe  that  the  soul  is  immortal,  we  can 


40  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

only  suppose  that  the  doctrine  is  true.  Those  who 
deny  that  it  is  plainly  taught  in  Scripture  may  be 
right  as  far  as  the  literal  content  of  certain  words  is 
concerned,  but  they  must  confess  that  the  whole  tone  of 
the  teaching  of  the  New  Testament — as  addressed  to 
many  who  already  believed  the  soul  to  be  immortal — is 
most  misleading. 

In  defence  of  the  doctrine  that  the  soul  is  in  every 
case  gifted  with  immortality,  and  that  the  condition  in 
which  this  unending  life  will  be  passed  depends  on  the 
choice  of  the  soul  itself,  we  must  recall  the  relationship 
in  which  the  Church  stood  to  the  Jewish  and  pagan 
world,  in  which  it  was  originally  planted. 

Our  Lord  compared  the  kingdom  of  God — the  Church 
— to  seed  cast  upon  the  earth :  '*  So  is  the  kingdom  of 
God,  as  if  a  man  should  cast  seed  into  the  ground."^ 

To  His  Church  He  gave  a  divine  life-force  that  was 
destined  to  draw  into  itself  all  that  was  valuable  in  the 
pre-Christian  systems ;  it  was  to  be  sown  first  in  Jewish 
soil  and  then  transplanted,  in  order  that  it  might  be 
fostered  and  developed  by  the  philosophies,  mythologies, 
and  worships  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome.  It  was, 
however,  destined  to  produce  a  fruit  peculiarly  its  own. 
It  is  the  province  of  history  to  try  and  discover  how 
the  soil  ministered  to  the  growth  of  the  Church ;  how 
Christianity  worked  up  the  raw  materials  of  Judaism 
and  paganism,  separating  elementary  bodies  and  join- 
ing them  together  afresh ;  rejecting  this,  absorbing  that ; 

1  St.  Mark  iv.  26. 


Is  the  Soul  Immortal?  41 

now  hindered  and  now  helped  by  its  environment,  but 
steadily  developing  and  ripening  for  the  harvest. 

When  we  apply  these  thoughts  to  the  teaching  of 
our  Lord  and  His  Apostles,  we  have  to  consider  first 
whether  what  was  taught  was  entirely  a  new  revelation, 
or  whether  it  was  teaching  that  presupposed  a  certain 
belief  in  those  who  were  addressed.  The  doctrines  of  the 
Trinity  and  Unity  of  God,  and  the  redemption  of  the 
world,  may  be  given  as  examples  of  doctrines  that  were 
hitherto  unknown.  But  even  these  new  revelations 
needed  the  aid  of  Greek  thought  to  find  anything  like 
adequate  expression  in  human  language. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  human  intellect,  enlightened 
doubtless  by  that  Divine  Word  Who,  St.  John  says, 
"  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world,"  had 
very  generally  arrived  at  a  belief  in  the  existence  of 
God,  and  the  duty  of  worship.  The  survival  of  the  soul 
after  the  death  of  the  body,  its  immortality,  and  the 
doctrine  that  the  future  life  was  one  of  reward  or  of 
punishment,  were  also  beliefs  accepted  by  the  greater 
part  of  the  Jewish  world,  and  familiar  to  the  more 
thoughtful  among  the  pagans.  W^e  have,  then,  in 
considering  any  doctrine  of  our  Lord,  to  ask  what 
preparation  there  had  been  for  His  teaching  in  the  Jewish 
Church ;  in  what  sense,  consequently,  those  who  heard 
Him  would  understand  His  words,  and  whether  or  no  our 
Lord  confirmed  or  contradicted  the  received  belief  of 
His  day.  In  studying  the  teaching  given  by  the  Apostles 
to  the  Gentiles  we  must  ask  the  same  questions.     The 


42  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen   World 

truth  as  to  any  doctrine  will  be  found  in  the  final  belief 
of  the  Church.  Those  who  do  not  regard  the  Church  as 
the  divine  teacher  will  necessarily,  if  they  are  Christians, 
be  left  in  uncertainty  on  many  points  that  the  Bible 
does  not  plainly  decide. 

Christianity  assimilated  the  belief  as  to  the  survival 
of  the  soul  after  death,  while  it  rejected  the  doctrine  of 
its  pre-existence.  The  Scriptures  of  the  New  Testament, 
however,  do  not  discuss  the  question  whether  or  no 
this  survival  is  due  to  the  essential  permanence  of  the 
human  soul,  neither  do  the  Scriptures  tell  us  plainly 
that  because  the  soul  survives  death  it  must  survive 
everlastingly.  The  writers  of  the  New  Testament  do, 
however,  assert  that  "the  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life,"^ 
and  that  the  soul  departing  from  the  body  in  the  grace 
of  God  will  enjoy  life  everlasting.  What  concerns 
those  who  belong  to  the  Church  is  not  whether  or 
no  they,  as  individuals,  can  find  this  or  that  doctrine 
in  Holy  Scripture,  but  what,  as  a  whole,  the  Church 
of  God  has  taught  men  to  believe  to  be  the  true 
meaning  of  Holy  Writ. 

The  seed  of  divine  teaching  given  by  Jesus  Christ, 
fostered  by  enlightened  Greek  thought,  and  moulded 
and  nourished  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  has  undoubtedly 
resulted  in  the  doctrine  of  the  soul's  immortality  being 
accepted  throughout  Christendom  as  the  truth.  In  its 
growth  the  divine  seed  has  worked  up  the  raw  materials 
of  Jewish  and  pagan  speculation  ;  separated  and  joined 

^  Rom.  vi.  23. 


Is  the  Soul  Immortal?  43 

together  afresh  their  elementary  beliefs.  It  is  sufficient 
to  say  that  nothing  in  the  Bible  contradicts  this  belief, 
while  very  much,  as  might  be  expected,  supports  it. 
The  most  enlightened  human  intellect  has  not  been  able 
to  find  any  reason  why  the  soul,  if  it  can  survive  death, 
should  ever  cease  to  exist,  since  it  appears  to  be  a  spirit- 
ual substance,  simple  and  indivisible ;  and,  unlike  the 
body,  not  endangered  by  sickness,  decay,  or  other  evils. 

It  may  be  truly  said  that,  looking  at  the  matter  from 
a  purely  rational  point  of  view,  the  doctrine  of  the 
immortality  of  the  soul  is  so  highly  probable  that  it 
would  be  rash  to  deny  it.  We  cannot,  indeed,  know 
that  the  soul  is  immortal,  but  we  have,  as  we  have  seen, 
many  reasons  to  believe  that  it  is,  and  the  fact  that  the 
human  soul  can  conceive  of  God  seems  to  show  its  own 
kinship  with  the  eternal. 

Such  proof  as  there  is  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul 
must  be  sought  in  the  study  of  the  science  of  psych- 
ology ;  no  single  argument  taken  by  itself  seems  strong 
enough  to  bring  conviction,  but  the  sum  of  evidence 
offers  a  body  of  witness  that  has  certainly  not  yet  been 
overthrown,  and  cannot  be  lightly  set  aside. 

There  is  no  absolute  proof  of  the  existence  of  God,  and 
yet  we  may  confidently  assert  that  mankind  as  a  whole 
has  always  believed  in  the  existence  of  a  Supreme 
Being.  This  faith  in  the  existence  of  God  has  every 
kind  of  witness  that  it  is  a  reasonable  faith,  although 
it  is  incapable  of  scientific  demonstration.  Even  so, 
speaking  generally,  men  have  always  and  everywhere 


44  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen   World 

believed  that  the  soul  can  and  does  survive  death,  and 
the  Church  has  taught  that  the  soul  will  be  reunited 
with  the  body  and  live  on  for  ever.  That  which  is  im- 
possible in  its  own  nature  is  not  desired  by  men,  and 
the  desire  of  immortality  which  seems  to  be  ingrained 
in  the  human  heart  must  either  be  the  exception  which 
proves  the  rule,  or  else  a  longing  that  is  destined  to  be 
satisfied.  God,  it  is  said,  "  has  given  eternity  in  the 
heart  of  man,"  ^  and  this  argument  from  the  desire  of 
eternal  life  is  usually  thought  to  be  a  strong  one.  We 
may  here  again  insist  on  the  fact  that,  after  all,  it  is  less 
with  the  immortality  of  the  soul  that  Christianity  is  con- 
cerned, than  with  the  resurrection  of  the  body  and  the 
consequent  immortality  of  man.  The  soul  survives 
death  and  is  destined  to  be  reunited  with  the  body — 
this,  all  agree,  is  plainly  taught  in  Holy  Writ.  The 
point  of  difference  is  that  some  assert  that  only  the 
righteous  continue  to  live  on  for  ever  after  the  resurrec- 
tion, while  the  Church  has  encouraged  the  belief  that 
the  wicked  do  not  survive  death  merely  to  share  in  the 
resurrection  for  a  time  and  then  cease  from  conscious 
existence,  but  that  consciousness  is  retained  by  the 
reprobate  as  well  as  by  the  elect.  It  would  indeed 
be  a  "gospel,"  if  it  were  true,  that  after  the  resurrec- 
tion the  wicked,  being  incapable  of  salvation,  would 
to  all  intents  and  purposes  cease  to  exist ;  but  the 
question  is  one  that  we  cannot  answer  for  ourselves  in 
the  way  we  should  desire ;  we  must  accept  the  answer 
that  God  has  given.     To  assert  that  what  we  deem  to 

1  Eccles.  iii.  ii.  (R.V.) 


Is  the  Sotil  Immortal  f  45 

be  the  more  humane  belief  must  of  necessity  be  the 
truth,  is  perilous.  It  has  been  truly  said  that  the  real 
difficulty  is  not  the  eternal  endurance  of  evil,  but  that 
evil  should  ever  have  been  permitted.  The  gift  of 
free-will  is  not  without  its  very  apparent  difficulties,  but 
the  denial  of  the  possession  of  free-will  only  leads  us 
from  one  perplexity  into  another  still  more  profound. 
We  must  not,  however,  enter  upon  an  inquiry  into  the 
mystery  of  the  fate  of  the  "  lost,"  but  it  was  needful  to 
touch  upon  the  truth  that  the  soul  is  designed  for  the 
body,  and  that  consequently  it  is  to  the  resurrection 
of  the  flesh  that  the  Church  directs  our  thoughts  when 
she  speaks  of  "  the  life  of  the  world  to  come,"  rather 
than  to  the  temporary  state  of  the  soul  between  the 
death  and  resurrection  of  the  body,  with  which  the 
following  chapters  are  concerned. 

To  sum  up,  we  may  assert  that  the  doctrine  of  the 
immortality  of  the  soul  is  not  merely  a  Christian  belief, 
but  one  also  that  was  reached  before  the  time  of  the 
Incarnation,  by  some  of  the  most  profound  thinkers 
the  world  has  ever  known.  This  belief  was  at  any 
rate  known  to  the  Jews  and  accepted  by  some  of 
them,  while  others  taught  a  doctrine  similar  to  that  of 
conditional  immortality.  The  orthodox  Jew*  seem 
not  to  have  been  clear  as  to  whether  or  no  every 
soul  must  live  on  in  eternal  consciousness.  With 
reference  to  the  Old  Testament  teaching,  and  indeed 
to  the  teaching  of  the  whole  Bible,  we  may  bear  in 
mind  the  words  of   Dr.  Liddon :  "  The  Bible  nowhere 


46  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

deals  with  the  natural  immortality  of  the  human  soul 
as  a  thesis  to  be  proved.  As  in  the  case  of  the  soul's 
spirituality,  the  Bible  scarcely  asserts,  but  everywhere 
takes  the  truth  for  granted."  ^ 

If  we  turn  to  the  Church  there  is  no  question  that 
even  if  the  doctrine  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul  is 
not,  as  such,  part  of  the  faith  contained  in  the  Creed, 
it  is  yet  so  far  de  fide  that  the  Church  takes  for  granted 
the  survival  of  the  soul  after  the  death  of  the  body, 
since  she  has  made  the  resurrection  of  the  body  an 
article  of  the  faith,  and  after  the  resurrection  speaks  of 
the  future  as  "  the  life  everlasting." 

Over  the  final  fate  of  the  reprobate  the  writers  of  the 
New  Testament  draw  a  veil.  They  disclose  them  in 
torment  up  to  and  after  the  resurrection,  but  whether 
or  no  these  unhappy  ones  are  for  ever  conscious  of  their 
misery  we  are  not  plainly  told.  The  belief  of  Christen- 
dom has  been  that  consciousness  remains  to  the  repro- 
bate as  well  as  to  the  righteous. 

It  now  becomes  necessary  to  ask  how  far  the  life  of  the 
soul  after  the  death  of  the  body  is  a  continuation  of  the 
present  life  on  earth.  Do  we,  after  the  death  of  the  body, 
develop  along  the  lines  we  have  hitherto  been  travelling 
over,  or  does  death  entirely  change  our  nature  as  well  as 
our  environment?  If  the  force  of  analogical  argument 
is  to  be  admitted,  it  will  be  surely  found  that  the  next 
life  is  the  outcome  of  the  life  we  are  now  living. 

"  Life  is  probation,  and  this  earth  no  goal, 
But  starting-point  of  man."  ^ 

1  Soyne  Elements  of  Religion.  ^  Browning,  The  Pope. 


IV. 

Zhc  Breaking  of  Breame 


THE   BREAKING   OF   DREAMS 

My  soul  was  sick  with  grief  when  from  on  high 

There  fell  a  voice  majestic,  strong,  and  sweet, 

As  of  some  Presence  from  God's  Mercy-Seat. 

I  gazed  around,  but  none  could  I  descry, 

Yet  felt  I  not  the  less  that  one  drew  nigh. 

Who  as  a  spirit  did  my  spirit  greet 

With  words  of  love  that  I  can  ne'er  repeat, 

Then  silent,  waited,  as  for  some  reply. 

Grief  sealed  my  lips  ;  then  spake  the  voice  to  me  : 

"  Weep  not  as  if  the  dead  forgetful  sleep  : 

See  how  yon  star  out  of  the  darkness  gleams  ! 

So  he  thou  lovest  watches  over  thee  : 

Yea,  all  the  blessed  Dead  bright  vigil  keep, 

For  yonder  comes  the  breaking  of  earth's  dreams." 

R.  E.  H. 


IV. 

Ubc  BteafttUG  of  Breams 

WE  may  look  at  death  from  several  points  of  view. 
Let  us  take  two.  First,  there  is  death  as  a 
physical  fact — the  final  resuh  of  the  general  impairing 
of  the  mechanism  of  the  body  as  it  passes  from  the 
vigour  of  life  to  the  decay  of  old  age,  or  else  the  more 
or  less  sudden  failure  of  some  vital  function  of  the 
body  brought  about  by  decay  or  accident.  Be  the 
remote  cause  of  death  what  it  may,  the  proximate  cause 
in  every  case  is  said  to  be  the  stoppage  of  the  circula- 
tion of  the  blood,  putting  an  end  to  the  exchange  of 
matter  and  energy  which  are  the  characteristic  accom- 
paniments of  life.  If  man  has  no  soul  in  the  theological 
sense  of  the  word — death  is  the  end  of  man.  His  body 
goes  to  corruption,  and  with  the  body  his  mind  also 
perishes.  The  world  may  continue  to  cherish  his 
memory  for  a  time,  and  his  works  may  still  influence 
society,  but  the  man  himself  has  perished. 

In  all  ages  many  have  thus  thought  of  death,  and 
nowhere  perhaps  is  this  sad  creed  more  beautifully  por- 
trayed than  in  the  words  of  the  deutero-canonical  book 
entitled  "  The  Wisdom  of  Solomon."     "  We  are  born  at 

E  49 


50  The  So7il  in  the  Unseen  World 

all  adventure :  and  we  shall  be  hereafter  as  though  we 
had  never  been :  for  the  breath  in  our  nostrils  is  as 
smoke,  and  a  little  spark  in  the  moving  of  our  heart : 
which  being  extinguished,  our  body  shall  be  turned  into 
ashes,  and  our  spirit  shall  vanish  as  the  soft  air,  and  ouf 
name  shall  be  forgotten  in  time,  and  no  man  shall  have 
our  works  in  remembrance,  and  our  life  shall  pass  away 
as  the  trace  of  a  cloud,  and  shall  be  dispersed  as  a  mist 
that  is  driven  away  with  the  beams  of  the  sun,  and 
overcome  with  the  heat  thereof  For  our  time  is  a  very 
shadow  that  passeth  away  ;  and  after  our  end  there  is 
no  returning :  for  it  is  fast  sealed,  so  that  no  man 
Cometh  again."  This,  we  are  told,  said  the  ungodly 
"  reasoning  with  themselves,  but  not  aright."^ 

It  is  quite  unnecessary  to  prove  that  this  is  not  the 
way  in  which  the  holy  Scriptures,  taken  as  a  whole, 
would  have  us  look  at  death.  Throughout  the  Bible 
there  is  scattered  everywhere  the  teaching  that  death  is 
not  the  end  of  our  life,  but  the  gate  by  which  we  leave 
one  form  of  life  and  enter  upon  another.  If  it  is  the 
dark  valley  over  which  the  shadow  hovers,  it  is,  after  all, 
only  the  valley  through  which  the  soul  must  pass  in 
order  to  reach  the  eternal  hills  on  whose  heights  the 
sunlight  ever  rests. 

The  question  we  have  now  to  consider  is  whether  the 
moral  condition  of  the  soul  is  altered  by  the  death  of 
the  body.  Does  death  change  not  merely  the  environ- 
ment of  the  soul  but  also  its  moral  condition  ?     Does 

^  Wisdom  ii.  2-5. 


The  Breaking  of  Dreams  5 1 

the  next  life  grow  out  of  this  Hfe  and  continue  it,  or, 
is  death  a  transformation  of  the  soul  in  such  wise  that 
at  its  entry  into  the  new  mode  of  life  the  moral  condi- 
tion of  the  soul  is  at  once  entirely  changed  ? 

In  trying  to  answer  this  question  we  may  first  of  all 
look  at  death  as  it  is  in  itself — a  merely  physical  fact. 
From  this  point  of  view  there  seems  no  reason  at  all 
why  death  should  alter  the  moral  condition  of  the  soul. 
All  that  death  appears  to  do  is  to  separate  the  soul 
from  the  body.  The  character,  the  active  and  passive 
habits,  intellectual  and  moral,  that  have  been  formed 
during  the  soul's  life  of  union  with  the  body,  can  hardly 
be  altered  by  the  death  of  the  body.  If  they  are  not 
altered,  then  the  life  after  death  must  be  a  continuation, 
a  development  of  the  life  begun  here  on  earth,  and  the 
determination  of  the  direction  of  our  intellectual,  moral, 
and  spiritual  growth  must  be  the  purpose  of  our  present 
state  of  existence. 

As  far  as  can  be  seen  by  the  light  of  reason  there  is 
nothing  in  the  death  of  the  body  that  would  tend  to 
alter  the  habits  and  moral  state  of  the  soul.  The  ten- 
dency of  intellectual  and  moral  habits  is  to  develop 
and  become  more  and  more  deeply  rooted.  The  ill- 
tempered  man  who  never  checks  himself  becomes 
unbearably  disagreeable  ;  his  natural  irritability  develops 
into  habitual  anger  and  even  violence ;  and — given  time 
— may  result  in  a  maniacal  self-destroying  frenzy.  The 
intemperate  man  becomes  more  and  more  sensual, 
until   body   and    soul    seem    to  sink  together   into   an 


52  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

unfathomable  depth  of  degradation.  The  slothful,  the 
irreverent,  the  proud,  the  unmerciful,  the  ungrateful,  and 
the  selfish  are  all  tending  towards  a  moral  state  that 
becomes  their  character.  An  impulse  continually 
yielded  to  becomes  a  habit,  and  habits  are  not  usually 
altered  in  a  moment.  It  is  true  that  the  choice  of 
another  line  of  conduct  is  always  potentially  within 
reach,  but  experience  teaches  how  seldom  it  is  that 
a  long-continued  habit  is  speedily  eradicated.  Can  we 
reasonably  suppose  that  death  can  mechanically,  as 
it  were,  alter  the  whole  drift  of  the  soul's  life }  Is  it 
not  more  reasonable  to  suppose  that  what  a  man  was 
before  death,  that  he  is  immediately  afterwards,  and 
that  the  future  life  is  a  continuation  of  the  soul's  exist- 
ence under  new  conditions  ?  The  same,  of  course,  holds 
good  as  to  those  who  during  life  have  tended  towards 
righteousness,  or  rather  who  have  not  consciously 
chosen  unrighteousness.  They  will  also  be  the  same 
after  death  as  before.^ 

This,  however,  is  only  one  aspect  of  death.  There 
is  another  which  is  more  hopeful.  Granted  that  death 
itself  cannot  alter  the  intellectual  and  moral  attitude 
of  the  soul,  may  not  some  change  be  effected  by  the 
new  conditions  of  life  to  which  death  introduces  the 
soul  ?  If  the  environment  of  the  soul  after  death  were 
the  same  as  during  life  the  argument  against  death 
affecting  the  soul  would  be  very  strong.  But  what  is 
the  case?     For  the  first  time  in  its  experience  the  soul, 

^  Rev.  xxii.  ii. 


The  Breaking  of  Dreams  53 

freed  from  the  body,  is  face  to  face  with  the  reahties 
of  the  unseen  world.  The  mists  of  time  and  all  doubts 
as  to  the  reality  of  a  conscious  hereafter,  the  uncertain- 
ties and  perplexities  that  have  perhaps  almost  hidden 
God  from  the  soul  during  life,  are  now  swept  away 
for  ever,  and  the  dim  faith  that  has  hitherto  flickered 
in  the  soul  suddenly  leaps  up  into  the  fullest  knowledge. 
If  it  be  true  that  here  "  we  have  but  faith,  we  cannot 
know,  for  knowledge  is  of  things  we  see,"  then  it  is 
also  true  that  after  death  for  the  first  time  the  soul 
sees  God  no  longer  "  through  a  glass  darkly,"  but  "  face 
to  face."  In  the  clear  light  of  the  other  world  comes 
the  realisation  of  the  meaning  of  the  words  of  the  great 
Apostle, "  Then  shall  I  know  even  as  also  I  am  known." ^ 
Who  can  say  that,  through  this  illumination,  in  the 
passionless  atmosphere  of  the  new  life  the  soul  may  not 
instantly  see  its  own  imperfection  and  turn  towards 
God  with  a  strong  act  of  the  will,  renouncing  evil  and 
choosing  good,  now  that,  for  the  first  time,  good  and 
evil  are  seen  in  their  true  light  ?  ^ 

While  therefore  there  seems  no  ground  for  supposing 
that  the  mere  act  of  dying  can  change  the  condition 
of  the  soul,  there  is  no  apparent  reason  why  the  entry 
of  the  soul  into  an  entirely  new  mode  of  life  may  not 
alter  the  attitude  of  the  will  towards  righteousness  and 
evil. 

The  question  that  we  must  now  ask  is  this,  Is  there 
any  ground  in  Holy  Scripture  for  supposing  that  the 

^  I  Cor.  xiii.  12.  '^  See  p.  347. 


54  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

soul  is  improved  by  its  entry  into  the  life  of  the  unseen 
world  ? 

It  must  be  confessed  that  we  have  hardly  any  teach-' 
ing  in  Holy  Scripture  that  touches  upon  this  subject. 
In  one  of  the  parables,  however,  we  have  a  picture  given 
to  us  by  our  Lord  that  certainly  seems  to  teach  the 
possibility  of  some  such  improvement  of  the  soul  as 
that  of  which  we  have  been  thinking.^  In  the  parable 
of  Dives  and  Lazarus  we  are  distinctly  given  to  under- 
stand that  the  rich  man's  sin  had  been  his  selfishness. 
It  appears  that  this  selfishness  was  fostered  by  the  ease 
and  luxury  in  which  he  had  lived.  Now,  no  sooner  has 
the  rich  man  died  and  passed  into  Hades  than  we 
notice  not  only  a  change  of  environment,  but  also  a 
change,  already  manifesting  itself,  in  his  character.  The 
rich  man  no  longer  finds  all  his  wants  satisfied,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  he  is  tormented  by  thirst.  Suffering 
thus  himself,  he  has  already,  we  notice,  so  far  learned 
the  lesson  he  has  to  learn,  that  he  is  unselfishly  anxious 
for  the  welfare  of  his  brethren  on  earth.  The  use  of 
the  word  "  hell "  in  the  Authorised  Version  has  very 
generally  led  people  to  think  of  Dives  as  in  the  place 
of  the  hopelessly  lost.  This  is  misleading.  The  Revised 
Version  gives  the  accurate  translation  of  the  word — 
"And  in  Hades  he  lifted  up  his  eyes,  being  in  torments." 
Hades  is  the  whole  realm  of  the  dead  who  are  not  in 
Heaven  ;  it  certainly  includes  the  place  of  the  reprobate 
— Gehenna — but  where  the  unseen  world  of  the  "  lost " 

^  St.  Luke  xvi.  19-31. 


The  Breaking  of  Dreams  55 

is  meant  we  find  that  the  word  Gehenna  is  usually 
employed  in  the  New  Testament.  Now,  as  we  shall 
see  later  on,  the  Jews  were  familiar  with  the  idea  of 
educational  punishment  in  the  unseen  nether  world,  and 
thus  the  imagery  of  the  parable  would  be  understood 
by  those  who  heard  it  to  teach  the  truth  that  the 
conquest  of  evil  can  only  be  through  suffering,  and  that 
usually  God  mercifully  ordains  that  penal  suffering 
shall  be  not  only  a  punishment,  but  also  an  education, 
a  means  of  correction  :  He  "  scourgeth  every  son  whom 
He  receiveth."  ^ 

It  is  no  doubt  true  that  a  parable  must  not  be  unduly 
pressed  in  all  its  details,  nor  may  we  build  too  con- 
fidently upon  its  imagery.  The  fact,  however,  that  the 
Church  has  very  generally  allowed,  and  even  encouraged, 
the  belief  that  in  the  new  light  of  the  new  life  the  soul 
is  filled  with  sorrow  for  sin  and  desire  for  God,  is 
exactly  the  witness  needful  to  justify  the  interpretation 
that  has  been  suggested  as  to  the  purpose  of  the  punish- 
ment of  the  rich  man  in  this  parable. 

The  parable  furnishes  a  scriptural  basis  for  a  hope 
that  has  always  found  a  place  in  the  heart  of  Christen- 
dom, and  is  to-day  more  than  ever  insisted  upon  by  all 
thoughtful  people — a  hope  that  some  hereafter  may  be 
taught  lessons  they  have  failed  to  learn  here  on  earth, 
and  so  be  saved  "  yet  so  as  by  fire."  ^ 

^  Heb.  xii.  6. 

^  I  Cor,  iii.  15.  The  statement  in  the  parable  that  there  is  a  great  gulf 
fixed  between  the  two  places  in  Hades  and  that  souls  could  not  pass  from 
one  to  the  other,  has  led  commentators  very  generally  to  suppose  Dives  was 
finally  lost,  but  others  think  the  words  may  be  understood  diflerently. 


56  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

A  further  question  now  suggests  itself:  Does  the 
time  of  probation  end  with  this  Hfe  or  does  it  extend 
beyond  the  grave?  In  trying  to  find  the  answer  we 
must  be  clear  as  to  what  we  mean  by  "  probation." 
If  by  probation  is  meant  the  formation  of  character, 
then,  as  we  gather  from  the  Parable  of  Dives  and 
Lazarus,  the  time  of  probation  may  be  said  to  extend 
into  the  life  after  death.  The  general  teaching  of  the 
Church,  however,  leads  us  to  understand  by  probation 
something  very  different  from  this.  It  is  taught  that 
the  soul  has  a  divine  life  given  to  it ;  that  the  object 
of  the  life  here  on  earth  is  to  develop  this  supernatural 
life,  and  above  all  things  to  avoid  losing  it  altogether. 
In  other  words,  the  object  of  this  present  life  is  to 
become  Christlike  by  the  careful  performance  of  duty 
in  the  spirit  and  power  of  Christ.  Sin,  on  the  other 
hand,  either  weakens  this  life  of  the  soul  or  destroys 
it  altogether.  Sin  is  another  name  for  an  act  or 
motive  that  is  not  only  un-Christlike,  but  positively 
destructive  in  a  lesser  or  greater  degree  of  the  soul's 
resemblance  to  God.  If  at  the  moment  of  death  the 
likeness  of  the  soul  to  the  Divine  Pattern  is  not  only 
imperfect,  but  absolutely  obliterated  beyond  all  possi- 
bility of  restoration,  then,  and  only  then,  can  it  be 
said  that  the  soul  is  "  lost.-"  None  but  God  can  know 
to  whom  this  loss  happens,  or  how  often  or  seldom 
it  happens,  and  in  any  given  instance  it  would  be  in 
the  highest  degree  rash  and  wicked  to  say  that  such 
and  such  a  man  has  no  hope  of  salvation.     The  Church 


The  Breaking  of  Dreams  57 

merely  teaches — as  the  most  probable  opinion — that 
if  a  soul  does  depart  out  of  this  life  without  a  spark 
of  the  divine  life,  it  is  "lost."  To  take  an  example, 
the  vitality  of  the  body  may  be  seriously  impaired  by 
sickness  or  accident,  but  as  long  as  life  remains  there 
may  be  the  possibility  of  complete  restoration  to  health 
and  strength.  When  life  is  extinct  all  hope  of  recovery 
is  gone.  May  it  not  be  even  so  with  the  soul  ?  Sin 
may  weaken  its  life  and  bring  it  near  to  death,  but 
as  long  as  the  spiritual  life  is  not  extinct  there  is 
hope  of  progress  and  restoration.  It  was  said  of  our 
Lord,  The  "  smoking  flax  shall  He  not  quench " ;  ^ 
and  therefore  we  may  be  sure  that  if  a  soul  is  con- 
demned, the  condemnation  is  not  an  arbitrary  sentence, 
but  the  judicial  statement  of  an  already  accomplished 
fact.  The  physician  does  not  condemn  to  death  when 
he  pronounces  that  life  is  extinct ;  he  states — with 
sorrow  it  may  be — a  fact  he  cannot  alter.  One  thing 
we  must  never  forget,  and  that  is,  that  the  spiritual 
life  cannot  be  lost  by  want  of  knowledge  in  regard 
to  that  life,  or  by  lack  of  opportunity  to  develop  it. 
These  things  may  impair  the  life  of  the  soul :  they 
cannot  destroy  it.  Only  a  conscious,  determined,  and 
wilful  rejection  of  good,  and  choice  of  what  is  known 
to  be  evil,  can  destroy  the  spiritual  life.  Hence  the 
divine  life  may  exist  in  those  who  seem  to  us  entirely 
without  it,  because  their  surroundings  have  made  it 
impossible   that   they  should    know  more  of  the   will 

1  St.  Matt.  xii.  20. 


T\BRA 

OF  THE 


UNIVERSITY 


OF 


58  The  Sold  in  the  Unseen  World 

of  God  than  they  have  learnt  from  a  conscience  that 
has  had  httle  help  to  form  itself  rightly.  Such  persons 
have,  as  we  say,  "  had  no  chance,"  and  for  that  very 
reason  have  not  knowingly  rejected  God  or  His 
righteousness.  The  Divine  Master  has  told  us  that 
"  He  that  knew  not  [his  lord's  will]  and  did  commit 
things  worthy  of  stripes,  shall  be  beaten  with  few 
stripes.  For  unto  whomsoever  much  is  given,  of  him 
shall  be  much  required."  ^  Those  to  whom  but  little 
has  been  given  will  be  accepted  if  they  have  not 
wilfully  misused  that  little.  The  true  Light  "lighteth 
every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world,"  ^  but  the  light 
is  sometimes  obscured  by  circumstances,  and  sometimes 
it  is  intentionally  rejected.  It  was  the  neglect  of  an 
obvious  duty  that  was  punished  in  the  story  of  Dives, 
and  in  that  other  parable  where  our  Lord  speaks  of  the 
final  judgment.  It  is  quite  plain  that  in  this  latter 
parable  the  acts  of  kindness  mentioned  were  not  done 
consciously  for  God,  but  sprang  from  the  promptings 
of  an  "  honest  and  good  heart "  ^ :  "  Then  shall  the 
righteous  answer  Him,  saying,  Lord,  when  saw  we 
Thee  an  hungered,  and  fed  Thee?  or  thirsty,  and 
gave  Thee  drink  ?  .  .  .  And  the  King  shall  answer  and 
say  unto  them,  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  Inasmuch  as 
ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  My 
brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  Me."* 

When  we  remember  that  the  death  of  the  soul  can 

1  St.  Luke  xii.  48.  ^  St.  John  i.  9. 

'^  St.  Luke  viii.  15.  ■*  St.  Matt.  xxv.  31-46. 


The  Breaking  of  Dreams  59 

only  result  from  a  deliberate  act  of  the  will,  we  see  how 
large  a  hope  we  have  for  the  salvation  of  the  human 
race.  The  ground  of  hope  is  that  God  is  just  and  also 
merciful.  .  God  would  have  "all  men  to  be  saved,  and 
to  come  unto  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,"  ^  but  He  has 
given  man  free-will,  and  if  the  will  of  man  deliberately 
rejects  God,  then,  it  may  be,  that  even  God  Himself 
cannot  force  salvation  upon  His  rational  creatures. 

But  taking  for  granted  that  the  soul  has  not  know- 
ingly and  wilfully  rejected  God,  then  all  the  possibilities 
of  a  growth  in  holiness  are  open  to  it  hereafter. 
According  to  the  words  of  St.  Paul  it  may  be  said 
of  such  a  soul  that,  "  He  which  hath  begun  a  good 
work  in  you  will  perform  it  until  the  day  of  Jesus 
Christ."  2 

Death,  while  it  destroys  for  a  time  the  life  of  the 
body,  secures  for  ever  the  life  of  the  soul  that  departs 
hence  "  alive  unto  God."  If,  as  far  as  we  know,  the 
spiritually  dead  cannot  regain  life  hereafter,  so  neither 
can  he  who  has  spiritual  life  lose  it  in  the  world  to 
come. 

A  glimpse  of  the  truth  was  given  to  Plato,  who  tells 
us  in  the  Phaedrus  that  "  There  is  a  law  that  the  paths 
of  darkness  beneath  the  earth  shall  never  be  trodden  by 
those  who  have  so  much  as  set  foot  on  the  heavenward 
road." 

We  may  conclude,  then,  that  while  it  is  improbable 
that  the  mere  act  of  dying  can  alter  the  moral  condition 

1  I  Tim.  ii.  4.  2  p^ii.  i.  6. 


6o  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

of  the  soul,  yet  there  is  every  reason  to  hope  that  the 
entry  into  the  reaHties  of  the  spiritual  world  may  help 
the  soul  to  go  forward  towards  perfection,  and  that  God 
will  hereafter  continue  the  good  work  begun  here  and 
complete  it  "  until  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ." 


V. 

^be  Mitnes0  of  tbe  ®l&  Zcetamcnt 


"  The  Old  Testament  is  not  contrary  to  the  New  :  for  both 
in  the  Old  and  New  Testament  everlasting  life  is  offered  to 
Mankind  by  Christ,  Who  is  the  only  Mediator  between  God  and 
Man,  being  both  God  and  Man.  Wherefore  they  are  not  to  be 
heard,  which  feign  that  the  old  Fathers  did  look  only  for  transitory 
promises"  (Article  vii.). 

"Whatsoever  things  were  written  aforetime,  were  written  for  our 
learning  ;  that  we  through  patience,  and  comfort  of  the  Scriptures, 
might  have  hope"  (Rom.  xv.  4). 


V. 

Ube  Mitne00  ot  tbe  ©lb  Testament 

IT  is  not  easy  for  Christians  to  approach  the  Old 
Testament  Scriptures  without  reading  into  them  the 
fuller  revelation  that  has  been  given  in  the  Gospel. 

We  have  to  guard  against  this  tendency  when  our 
object  is  not  to  find  out  what  Christian  truth  lay  hidden 
in  this  or  that  passage  of  the  Old  Testament,  but  what 
was  thought  to  be  the  original  significance  of  the  words 
— what  belief  they  expressed  or  fostered  at  the  time 
they  were  written. 

There  are,  for  example,  indications  that  we  can  now 
see  in  the  Old  Testament  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy 
Trinity ;  but  it  would  of  course  be  a  mistake  to  suppose 
that  such  passages  were  understood  in  that  sense  by  the 
Hebrews. 

Thus  also,  in  dealing  with  the  Old  Testament  teaching 
as  to  a  life  after  death,  we  have  to  consider  not  what  we 
now  think  to  be  the  full  significance  of  these  passages, 
but,  if  possible,  first  to  ascertain  the  exact  meaning  of 
the  words  in  which  such  a  life  is  hinted  at  or  mentioned, 
and  then — from  the  current  Jewish  belief  and  tradition 
— to    find  out  what  teaching  these  portions  of   Holy 

63 


64  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

Writ  conveyed  to  the  Hebrew  people  before  the  coming 
of  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  a  further  study  to  follow  up  this 
traditional  belief  and  trace  its  recognition  in  the  teaching 
of  the  New  Testament. 

The  difficulty,  however,  of  arriving  at  the  historical  or 
literal  meaning  of  some  passages  of  the  Old  Testament 
is  often  very  great,  and  sometimes  impossible.  The 
moral  and  spiritual  meaning  may  be  clear,  but  the  lapse 
of  time  may  render  it  beyond  our  power  to  arrive  at  the 
circumstances  attending  the  original  assertion,  command, 
prophecy,  or  prayer.  Again,  we  learn  from  the  New 
Testament  that  very  many  of  the  apparently  historical 
events  recorded  in  the  Old  Testament  were  typical  of 
some  truth  of  the  Gospel,  and  at  times  it  is  not  easy  to 
say  if  the  type  was  meant  to  be  regarded  as  an  historical 
fact  or  as  an  allegory  or  parable.  There  are  various  kinds 
of  inspiration.  The  Sibyl  and  the  Pythoness  of  ancient 
Hellas  were  thought  to  be  inspired,  but  no  one  supposed 
that  the  oracles  they  delivered  demanded  a  literal 
interpretation.  In  the  Bible  we  find  that  inspiration 
is  bestowed  for  a  special  purpose  to  which  it  is  carefully 
proportioned.  At  one  time  it  takes  the  form  of  certain 
commands  coming  directly  from  God,  as  in  the  giving 
of  the  Law.  At  another  time  the  historian  is  guided  to 
select  certain  facts,  and  to  record  certain  actions — some 
good,  some  bad.  At  yet  another  time  the  prophet, 
witnessing  the  struggles,  the  sins,  and  the  perils  of  his 
time,  is  "  inspired  "  to  seize  the  lesson  that  the  events 
should  teach,  or  to  point  out  their  remedy.     What  the 


The  Witness  of  the  Old  Testament        65 

historian  records  and  the  prophet  proclaims  is  over- 
ruled by  God  to  convey  to  all  ages  a  spiritual  or  moral 
lesson,  over  and  above  the  immediate  meaning  of  the 
words  at  the  time  they  were  uttered. 

In  the  order  of  Nature  we  are  constantly  in  the 
presence  of  mystery — phenomena  that  at  present  we 
cannot  explain  or  understand.  Nature  bears  witness  to 
the  existence  of  God,  but  she  does  not  manifest  Him  so 
plainly  that  atheism  is  rendered  absolutely  impossible. 
It  is  only  by  degrees,  "here  a  little,  and  there  a  little,"^ 
that  Science  is  reading  the  book  of  Nature,  and  we 
certainly  need  not  be  surprised  if  the  same  slowness 
is  required  for  progress  in  the  understanding  of  the 
written  Word  of  God.  It  seems  as  if  we  heard  once 
again  the  words  of  our  Lord,  "  If  I  have  told  you  earthly 
things,  and  ye  believe  not,  how  shall  ye  believe  if  I  tell 
you  of  heavenly  things  ?  "^ 

In  both  Nature  and  Holy  Scripture  there  is  a  power 
that  witnesses  for  God — that  forces  upon  us  the  con- 
viction that  we  are  in  contact  with  a  work  that  is  beyond 
the  skill  of  man.  We  must  therefore  be  patient  and 
humble,  trying  to  find  out  what  we  may,  and  not  be 
discouraged  if  we  can  at  the  best  make  but  little 
progress  in  our  knowledge  of  the  deep  things  of 
God. 

In  considering  what  the  Old  Testament  has  to  tell  us 
of  the  life  hereafter,  it  will  be  well  first  of  all  to  state 
briefly  the   meaning   of  two   words   used    in   the   Old 

1  Isa.  xxviii.  lo,  '^  St.  John  iii.  12. 


66  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

Testament  with  reference  to  the  unseen  world — 
"Heaven,"  and  "  Sheol." 

There  are  four  ^  Hebrew  words  used  for  "  heaven." 
The  first  of  these  simply  means  the  firmament ;  the 
second  is  used  in  the  expression  "  the  heaven  and  the 
earth,"  meaning  the  upper  as  distinct  from  the  lower 
regions ;  the  third  word  is  used  for  a  "  place  above," 
"  He  sent  from  above — from  on  high — He  took  me, 
He  drew  me  out  of  many  waters  " ;  ^  and  again,  '*  He  hath 
looked  down  from  the  height  of  His  sanctuary ;  from 
heaven  did  the  Lord  behold  the  earth."  ^  In  these 
instances  the  word  means  simply  a  mountain  or  high 
place.  The  fourth  word  means  "expanse,"  and  refers 
to  the  extent  of  the  heavens.  If  we  turn  to  tradition, 
we  find  that  the  Jews  divided  heaven  into  three  parts* 
— the  air,  the  firmament,  and  the  upper  heaven,  the  abode 
of  God  and  of  the  holy  angels.^ 

Heaven  is  not  infrequently  mentioned  in  the  Old 
Testament  as  the  dwelling-place  of  God  and  the  angels, 
but  there  is  no  reference  to  its  being  the  destined  home 
of  either  the  disembodied  spirits  of  the  righteous,  or 
of  man  after  the  resurrection  of  the  flesh. 

The  other  word  used  of  the  unseen  world  is  "SHEOL." 
It  means  in  the  Old  Testament  both  "the  grave"  and 
the    whole    nether    world    of    departed    spirits.      The 

^  Rakia  ;  Shamayim  ;  Marom  ;  Shechakim. 

^  Ps.  xviii.  1 6.  ^  Ps.  cii.  19. 

*  Job  xxii.  12  :  "Is  not  God  in  the  height  of  heaven?  And  behold  the 
height  of  the  stars,  how  high  they  are.  And  thou  sayest,  How  doth  God 
icnow  ?     Can  He  judge  through  the  dark  cloud  ?  "■ 


The  Witness  of  the  Old  Testament        6y 

Authorised  Version  often  uses  the  word  "  hell "  as  the 
translation  of  Sheol.  This  word  in  its  strict  sense  ^  is 
no  doubt  a  fair  equivalent  for  Sheol  in  both  its  significa- 
tions, but  in  modern  use  "  hell "  is  almost  exclusively 
associated  with  the  idea  of  a  place  or  state  of  torment — 
an  idea  never  connected  with  Sheol.  We  must  beware, 
then,  of  allowing  the  thought  of  pain  to  link  itself  to  the 
word  [Sheol  or]  "  hell "  in  the  Old  Testament. 

When  Jacob  was  told  that  his  son  Joseph  was  dead 
he  said,  "I  will  go  down  to  Sheol ^  to  my  son  mourning.'' 

In  the  Book  of  Job  we  are  told  that  Sheol  is  deep,^ 
and  dark — "a  land  of  darkness,  as  darkness  itself;  and 
of  the  shadow  of  death."*  From  the  Book  of  Numbers 
we  learn  that  Sheol  was  thought  to  be  in  the  bowels 
of  the  earth  ;  hence  Korah  and  his  companions  are  said 
to  have  gone  "down  alive  into  Sheol."  In  the  Book 
of  the  Proverbs  the  guests  of  "  the  foolish  woman  "  are 
said  to  be  on  the  way  to  "the  depths  of  Sheol," ^  an 
expression  which  suggests  that  in  the  nether  world 
there  were  supposed  to  be  various  degrees  of  gloom. 

From  these  passages — and  they  might  be  multiplied 

^  A  pit  or  hole, — hence  "  the  grave," — and  also  the  place  of  departed 
spirits.  The  Greek  equivalent  is  Hades.  The  Vulgate  translates  Sheol  by 
"Infernus"and  "Inferus."  It  was  to  "hell"  in  the  sense  of  Hades,  or  Sheol, 
that  our  Lord  descended.  "He  descended  into  hell,"  or  as  the  Latin 
runs,  descendit  ad  inferos — the  nether  world. 

^  "Grave"  in  the  A.V.  In  Psalm  cxxxix.  8,  "If  I  make  my  bed  in 
^^// behold  Thou  art  there,"  Sheol  is  the  word  translated  "hell." 

'  Job  xi.  8.  In  Deut.  xxxii.  22,  "A  fire  is  kindled  .  .  .  and  burneth 
unto  the  lowest  Sheol " — or  pit. 

^  Job  x.  22.  ^  Prov.  ix.  18. 


6S  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

— it  is  clear  that  although  the  Hebrew  ideas  as  to  the 
life  in  Sheol  were  vague,  yet  there  was  a  general  belief 
that  the  place  of  departed  spirits  was  one  of  gloom, 
if  not  of  absolute  darkness,  and  that  the  life  there  was 
but  a  shadowy  and  empty  existence.  We  find  no 
mention  of  a  place  or  state  of  joy,  light  and  peace  as 
awaiting  the  dead ;  neither  do  we  come  across  any 
mention  of  a  place  of  torment.  In  one  of  the  Psalms 
we  hear  of  the  "  pains  of  Sheol,"  ^  but  it  is  clear  that 
nothing  more  is  meant  than  that  the  Psalmist  tasted 
the  sorrow  which  it  was  thought  the  dead  must  feel 
at  the  loss  of  the  enjoyment  of  the  faculties  of  mind 
and  body.  The  pains  that  were  necessarily  involved 
in  dying,  and  so  passing  out  of  the  light  into  the  twilight 
and  gloom  of  the  nether  world,  are  the  only  suffering 
that  the  Old  Testament  knew  of  as  awaiting  the  dead. 
The  main  thought  of  Sheol  is  of  a  place  where  all  the 
dead  are  in  sombrous  sadness,  whence  later  on  we  find 
there  was  a  hope  of  escape  through  the  resurrection 
of  the  body. 

Throughout  the  whole  of  the  Old  Testament  we  can 
hardly  fail  to  notice  how  very  seldom  there  is  any 
reference  to  reward  or  punishment  in  a  future  life  as  a 
motive  for  well-doing  here  and  now.  Indeed  from  the 
Pentateuch  it  would  be  difficult  to  prove  that  the 
Israelites  were  taught  that  there  is  any  life  beyond 
the  grave.  It  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that  the 
Israelites  had  no  eschatology  of  their  own  till  after  the 

^  Ps.  cxvi.  3. 


The  Witness  of  the  Old  Testament         69 

Exile.  The  primitive  eschatology  of  the  individual  in 
Israel  was,  it  is  now  generally  supposed,  derived  from 
heathen  sources,  and  seems  to  have  been  closely  con- 
nected with  ancestor  worship.  The  Teraphim  were 
household  gods,  and  probably  images  of  ancestors, 
though  later  they  were  regarded  as  images  of  the  god 
of  Israel  (Yahwe). 

We  gather  that  sacrifices  were  offered  to  the  dead,^ 
and  that  the  right  to  offer  them  was  limited  to  a  son  of 
the  departed,  and  hence  in  the  after-life  men  were  able 
to  be  punished  by  the  destruction  -of  their  posterity. ^ 
To  destroy  the  children  deprived  the  dead  of  sacrifices. 
Again,  to  be  deprived  of  burial  was  a  great  punishment 
in  Israel  ^ — not  because  it  hindered  the  spirit  from 
entering  Hades,  as  the  Greeks  and  Romans  thought, 
but  because  the  sacrifices  to  the  dead  were  offered  at 
the  grave,  and  the  grave  was,  as  it  were,  the  temple  of 
ancestor  worship.  Thus,  until  the  Exile,  the  belief  of 
Israel  as  to  the  future  life  was  more  or  less  heathen, 
and,  as  far  as  we  know,  Israel  had  for  centuries  no  clear 
revelation  as  to  the  hereafter.  Directly  we  come  to 
Mosaism,  however,  we  find  continual  legislation  against 
this  heathen  ancestor  worship.  The  first  stage  of 
Israelitish  religion  forbade  heathen  practices,  and  gradu- 
ally prepared  the  way  for  a  truer  belief 

There  is  no  doctrine  of  individual  retribution  in  pre- 
prophetic  times ;  for  the  family,  not  the  individual, 
was  the  unit  in  Israel.     It  was  only  late  in  the  seventh 

^  Deut.  xxvi.  14.  2  Ex.  xxxiv.  7 ;  Num.  xiv.  18. 

^  2  Kings  ix.  10 ;  Jer.  xxv.  33. 


70  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

century  before  Christ  that  the  doctrine  of  individual 
retribution  was  proclaimed  by  the  prophet  Jeremiah, 
and  it  was  evidently  a  novelty.^ 

The  discipline  of  the  Law  centred  in  the  fact  that 
wrongdoing  brought  calamity  upon  Israel,  and  the 
righteousness  that  came  by  keeping  the  Law  brought 
prosperity.  The  silence  as  to  the  truth  about  a  future 
life  is  the  more  remarkable,  as  Israel  in  Egypt  must 
have  been  familiarised  with  the  elaborate  mythology  of 
the  dead  that  held  so  conspicuous  a  place  in  Egyptian 
religion.  The  comparatively  few  references  to  a  future 
life  that  are  found  in  the  earlier  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment are  not  of  a  dogmatic  character,  and  it  is  often 
difficult  to  say  whether  they  are  figurative  allusions  to 
death  or  whether  they  really  express  a  belief  in  a  con- 
scious survival  of  the  spirit.  In  the  Book  of  Genesis 
the  expression  "gathered  to  his  people"  probably  means 
something  more  than  buried  in  the  grave  of  his  fathers. 
This  is  implied  in  more  than  one  passage  ;  for  instance  : 
"Abraham  gave  up  the  ghost,  and  died  in  a  good  old 
age,  an  old  man,  and  full  of  years ;  and  was  gathered  to 
his  people.  And  his  sons  Isaac  and  Ishmael  buried  him 
.  .  ."  ^  Again,  "  Isaac  gave  up  the  ghost,  and  died,  and 
was  gathered  unto  his  people  .  .  .  and  his  sons  Esau 
and  Jacob  buried  him."  ^  And  once  more,  in  the  Book 
of  Numbers,  "  The  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  and  Aaron 
.  .  .  saying,  Aaron  shall  be  gathered  unto  his  people  .  .  P^ 

^  Jer.  xxxi.  29,  30.  ^  Gen.  xxv.  8.  ^  Gen.  xxxv.  29. 

■*  XX.  24;  see  also  Gen.  xlix.  29,  33  ;  Num.  xxvii.  13,  xxxi.  2. 


The  Witness  of  the  Old  Testament        71 

In  ancestor  worship  the  family  grave  was  the  desired 
resting-place,  and  from  this  reunion  of  bodies  probably 
grew  up  the  idea  of  Sheol  as  the  meeting-place  of  the 
spirits  of  the  dead. 

In  an  earlier  passage  it  is  said  of  Enoch  that  he  "  was 
not,  for  God  took  him."  How  far  it  was  recognised 
that  Enoch  was  "  translated  that  he  should  not  see 
death "  ^  we  have  no  means  of  knowing,  neither  do 
we  know  where  it  was  supposed  that  he  was  taken.^ 
It  would  seem,  however,  not  unlikely  that,  if  it  was 
believed  that  he  was  translated,  the  place  whither  he 
went  would  be  thought  of  as  some  heavenly  abode 
above  the  earth  rather  than  Sheol.  Later  on  we  read 
of  Elijah  that  he  "  went  up  by  a  whirlwind  into  heaven,"^ 
and  it  is  probable  that  the  expression  used  with  reference 
to  Enoch  implies  some  such  translation  from  earth  to 
heaven.  In  any  case  the  "  rapture "  of  Elijah  teaches 
us  that  if  Sheol  was  the  ordinary  abode  of  the  dead, 
yet  to  some  few  specially  favoured  ones  some  higher 
state  was  opened.^ 

Among  the  passages  that  relate  to  the  dead,  we  notice 
here  and  there  a  reference  to  practices  by  which  it  was 

1  Heb.  xi.  5. 

"^  In  Ecclus.  xliv.  i6. ,  the  Vulgate  reads,  "  Enoch  was  translated  .  .  . 
into  Paradise."  The  Arabic  legend  differs  from  that  in  Jasher.  See 
Legends  of  Old  Testament  Characters^  S.  Baring-Gould,  M.A.,  vol.  i. 

^  2  Kings  ii.  ii. 

^  It  is  commonly  taught  by  Western  theologians  that  Enoch  and  Elijah 
were  not  taken  to  heaven,  but  to  some  place  whence  they  will  come  to 
oppose  Antichrist  at  the  end.  Our  Lord's  words  also  tell  against  their 
having  been  taken  to  heaven.     See  St.  John  iii.  13. 


72  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

claimed  that  the  living  could  hold  intercourse  with  the 
departed.  All  such  intercourse  was  forbidden  by  God/ 
perhaps  because  it  was  WTong  in  itself,  or  possibly 
because  its  ceremonial  was  closely  bound  up  with 
Egyptian  idolatry,  and  the  ancestor  worship  that 
appears  to  have  been  common  in  primitive  Israel.  In 
Leviticus  it  is  commanded,  "Ye  shall  not  make  any 
cuttings  in  your  flesh  for  the  dead  " ;  ^  and  in  Deuter- 
onomy, "Ye  shall  not  cut  yourselves  nor  make  any 
baldness  between  your  eyes  for  the  dead."^  Again,  one 
justifies  himself  by  the  declaration,  "  I  have  not  eaten 
thereof  in  my  mourning  .  .  .  nor  given  ought  thereof 
for  the  dead."^  These  superstitions  at  least  bear  witness 
to  the  popular  belief  in  the  survival  of  the  soul  after 
death ;  but  it  is  in  the  prayer  of  Balaam — who  died 
fighting  against  Israel — that,  strangely  enough,  we  have 
one  of  the  first  expressions  of  a  hope  of  a  conscious 
hereafter  :  "  I  shall  see  him,  but  not  now  ;  I  shall  behold 
him,  but  not  nigh."^  We  must  not,  however,  build  too 
much  upon  a  poetical  expression  of  this  sort.  The 
w^ords  certainly  seem  to  assert  a  conscious  survival  of 
the  "  Ego,"  or  Self,  of  the  unhappy  seer,  but  even  here 
commentators  differ,  some  asserting  that  the  present 
tenses  are  used,  and  consequently  that  the  words  should 
be  rendered,  "  I  see  him  ...  I  behold  him." 
.  The   same   uncertainty   as   to   their    exact   meaning 

^  Exodus   xxii.    i8 ;  Lev.    xix.    31;    xx.   27;    Deut.    xviii.    10,    11  ; 
Isa.   viii.    19 ;   xix.   3. 

^  Lev.  xix.  28.  ^  Deut.  xiv.  i. 

*  Deut.  xxvi.  14.  ^  Num.  xxiv.  17. 


The  Witness  of  the  Old  Testament        J2> 

surrounds  the  familiar  words  of  Job,  "  I  know  that  my 
redeemer  " — my  next  of  kin,  my  avenger  and  advocate 
— "liveth,  and  shall  stand  at  the  latter  day  upon  the 
earth :  and  though  after  my  skin  worms  destroy  this 
body,  yet  in  my  flesh  shall  I  see  God :  Whom  I  shall 
see  for  myself,  and  mine  eyes  shall  behold,  and  not 
another."^  The  passage  is  extremely  difficult  and  un- 
certain in  meaning.  Instead  of  "in  my  flesh"  the 
Revised  Version  reads  "  from  my  flesh,"  and  has  a 
marginal  explanation  that  this  may  mean  "without," 
i.e.  apart  from  my  flesh.  It  seems,  however,  clear  that 
Job  did  look  beyond  the  present  age  to  a  life  after 
death,  and  that  in  that  life  he  rises,  above  the  gloomy 
thought  of  Sheol,  to  the  conviction  that  hereafter  his 
"  advocate  "  will  make  known  his  innocence,  and  that  he 
will  see  God. 

Again,  we  gather  from  the  many  denunciations  of 
those  who  had  "  familiar  spirits,"  that  something  of  the 
belief  which  we  now  call  Spiritualism  was  very  pre- 
valent in  the  early  days  of  Israel.  It  is  evident  that 
those  who  had  this  "  familiar  spirit " — the  "  mediums  " — 
professed  to  be  able  to  communicate  with  the  dead. 
When  Saul  went  to  consult  the  woman  at  Endor  he 
said,  "  I  pray  thee,  divine  unto  me  by  the  familiar  spirit, 
and  bring  me  him  up,  whom  I  shall  name  unto  thee. 
.  .  .  Then  said  the  woman,  Whom  shall  I  bring  up  unto 
thee  ?  And  he  said.  Bring  me  up  Samuel."  Then  when 
the  woman  had  done  as  Saul  commanded,  he  inquired 

^  Job  xix.  25-27. 


74  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

of  the  woman,  saying,  "  What  sawest  thou?  And  the 
woman  said  unto  Saul,  I  saw  a  god  (R.V.)  ascending  out 
of  the  earth."  And  when  "Saul  perceived  that  it  was 
Samuel  he  stooped  with  his  face  to  the  ground,  and 
bowed  himself  And  Samuel  said  to  Saul,  Why  hast 
thou  disquieted  me,  to  bring  me  up?"^  Here  it  is 
evidently  from  Sheol  that  Samuel  is  said  to  come  "  up," 
and  it  is  to  this  nether  world  that  he  summons  Saul 
with  the  words,  "  To-morrow  shalt  thou  and  thy  sons 
be  with  me."  Samuel  the  prophet  of  God,  and  Saul 
the  worldly,  rejected  king  of  Israel,  are  each  represented 
as  destined  to  go  to  the  same  place. 

When  we  pass  from  the  historical  books  and  come  to 
the  Psalms  and  Prophets  we  find  evidence  of  the  dawn 
of  a  clearer  hope.  It  is  true  that  many  commentators 
would  wish  us  to  believe  that  David  and  the  Prophets 
were  not  able  to  anticipate  the  life  of  the  world  to  come 
— that  their  announcements  must  be  limited  to  the 
present  dispensation.  This  view  surely  does  violence 
to  the  plain  text  of  Scripture,  and  is  quite  as  arbitrary 
an  assumption  as  any  that  has  been  put  forward  by 
extremists  on  the  other  side.  We  find  the  expression 
of  a  confident  hope  of  a  future  life  in  many  of  the 
psalms ;  for  instance,  in  the  23rd,  "  Yea,  though  I  walk 
through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  I  will  fear 
no  evil :  for  Thou  art  with  me  ";  in  the  17th,  "  I  shall  be 

^  I  Sam.  xxviii.  7-19.  The  departed  in  Sheol  are  seldom  spoken  of  as 
"souls"  in  the  Old  Testament,  owing  to  the  inability  of  early  Israel  to 
think  of  the  soul  without  a  certain  corporeity. 


The  Witness  of  the  Old  Testament        75 

satisfied  when  I  awake  with  Thy  Hkeness";  in  the  i6th, 
"  Thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in  Sheol."  Again,  in  the 
49th,  "  They  [men]  are  appointed  as  a  flock  for  Sheol ; 
Death  shall  be  their  shepherd :  and  the  upright  shall 
have  dominion  over  them  in  the  morning  ;  and  their 
beauty  shall  be  for  Sheol  to  consume,  that  there  be  no 
habitation  for  it.  But  God  will  redeem  my  soul  from 
the  power  of  Sheol :  for  He  shall  receive  me."^  And  once 
more,  in  the  Book  of  Proverbs  we  are  told  that  "  to  the 
wise  the  way  of  life  goeth  upward,  that  he  may  depart 
from  Sheol  beneath."^  These  and  similar  passages  are 
surely  inconsistent  with  the  belief  that  death  is  the  end 
of  all  conscious  individual  existence. 

Again,  did  David  mean  nothing  more  than  that  he 
too  must  die  by  the  touching  words  in  which  he  spoke 
of  the  loss  of  his  child  :  "  I  shall  go  to  him,  but  he  shall 
not  return  to  me  "  ?^ 

It  is  quite  true  that  against  these  hopeful  passages 
may  be  set  others  very  different  in  tone ;  there  are 
certainly  passages  that  appear  to  deny  the  survival  of 
the  spirit,  or  at  least  to  negative  any  continuity  of  its 
faculties.  The  thought  of  God  was  to  many  in  Israel 
the  very  stay  of  the  soul  throughout  life ;  how  terrible 
then  must  have  been  the  conviction  that,  '*  in  death 
there  is  no  remembrance  of  Thee,"  and  the  thought  of 
the  cessation  of  the  praises  of  God  implied  in  the 
question,  "In   Shoel   who   shall    give    Thee  thanks?"'* 

^  See  an  explanation  of  this  by  Rabbi  Akiba,  p.  128. 

"  XV.  24.   R.V.  '^  2  Sam.  xii.  23.  *  Ps.  vi.  5. 


76  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

"  Shall  the  dust  praise  Thee  ?  shall  it  declare  Thy 
truth  ?"i  or  in  the  yet  more  positive  assertion,  ''The 
dead  praise  not  the  Lord,  neither  any  that  go  down  into 
silence."^ 

In  the  Prophets  the  sad,  forlorn  state  of  the  dis- 
embodied spirit  is  much  less  prominent,  and  the  hope 
of  a  final  restoration  is  proclaimed  through  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body.  It  is  in  this  connection  that  the  first 
note  is  sounded  of  a  warning  that  the  new  life  will  be 
preceded  by  a  severe  judgment,  and  followed  not  only 
by  rewards,  but  also  by  suffering  in  the  case  of  those 
who  have  lived  wickedly. 

The  lament  that  Hezekiah  made  before  God  was  that 
"  the  grave  cannot  praise  Thee ;  .  .  .  they  that  go  down 
into  the  pit  cannot  hope  for  Thy  truth ";^  but  the  Holy 
Ghost  "  Who  spake  by  the  prophets "  gave  through 
Hosea  a  promise  that  was  full  of  a  joyful  expectation  of 
immortality :  "  I  will  ransom  them  from  the  power  of 
the  grave  (Sheol) ;  I  will  redeem  them  from  death : 
O  death,  where  are  thy  plagues?  O  grave  (Sheol), 
where  is  thy  destruction?"'* 

In  the  Book  of  the  prophet  Isaiah  we  have  a  dramatic 
description  of  the  tranquillity  of  the  earth  after  the 
death  of  the  Babylonian  king,  and  how  Sheol  was 
moved  at  the  entry  of  his  spirit  among  the  ghosts  of  the 
departed  ;  "  The  whole  earth  is  at  rest  and  is  quiet : 
.  .  .  Hell  (Sheol)  from  beneath  is   moved   for  thee  to 

^  Ps.  XXX.  9.  ^  Ps.  cxv.  17. 

^  Isa.  xxxviii.  18.         "*  Hosea  xiii.  14  (R.V.) ;  cf.  i  Cor.  xv.  55. 


The  Witness  of  the  Old  Testament         JJ 

meet  thee  at  thy  coming  :  it  stirreth  up  the  dead  for 
thee,  even  all  the  chief  ones  of  the  earth."  ^ 

Joel  has  a  vision  of  judgment,  symbolised  by  the 
punishment  of  the  enemies  of  Israel  in  the  valley  of 
Jehoshaphat  :^  Isaiah  foretells  "the  new  heavens  and 
the  new  earth,"  ^  and  then  describes  the  destruction  of 
the  unrighteous  by  the  figure  of  the  valley  into  which 
are  flung  the  carcases  of  men,  a  prey  to  the  undying 
worm  and  the  fire  that  is  never  quenched.  The  same 
prophet  speaks  also  of  the  resurrection  of  the  flesh : 
"  Thy  dead  men  shall  live,  together  with  my  dead  body 
shall  they  arise.  Awake  and  sing,  ye  that  dwell  in 
dust :  for  thy  dew  is  as  the  dew  of  herbs,  and  the  earth 
shall  cast  out  the  dead."*  The  symbolical  use  by 
Ezekiel  of  a  resuscitation  of  the  dry  bones  to  express 
a  national  deliverance  may  perhaps  not  unfitly  be  also 
thought  of  as  including  the  hope  of  a  personal  resurrec- 
tion." ^ 

A  later  prophet  is  still  clearer  in  his  vision  of 
judgment:  "Many  of  them  that  sleep  in  the  dust  of 
the  earth  shall  awake,  some  to  everlasting  life,  and  some 
to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt.  And  they  that  be 
wise  shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of  the  firmament, 
and  they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness  as  the  stars 
for  ever  and  ever."^ 

Besides  these  actual  references  to  the  difference 
between  the  condition  of  the  righteous  and  the  wicked 

^  Isa.  xiv.  7-9.  2  jQgi  jjj   12-16.  ^  Isa.  Ixvi.  22,  24. 

^  Isa.  xxvi.  19.  5  Ezek.  xxxvii.  1-14.        ^  Dan.  xii.  2,  3. 


yS  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

in  the  future  life  there  are,  of  course,  great  first  principles 
of  God's  justice  clearly  laid  down  in  the  Old  Testament 
— and  nowhere  more  plainly  than  in  the  Book  of  the 
prophet  Ezekiel.  Among  the  more  important  of  these 
principles  are  the  following :  that  man  has  free-will, 
and  consequently  is  responsible  for  the  use  he  makes  of 
it ;  that  the  sinner  will  be  judged  according  to  his  own 
merit — "  The  righteousness  of  the  righteous  shall  be 
upon  him,  and  the  wickedness  of  the  wicked  shall  be 
upon  him";i  that  repentance  involves  the  forsaking  of 
sin  and  the  following  after  righteousness ;  that  persever- 
ance in  good  to  the  end  is  essential,  or,  at  any  rate,  that 
death  must  find  a  man  walking  in  the  way  that  is 
"  lawful  and  right,"  if  he  would  "  save  his  soul  alive." 
In  brief,  God's  message  was,  *'  I  will  judge  you,  O  house 
of  Israel,  every  one  according  to  his  ways,  saith  the 
Lord  God.  ...  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  him 
that  dieth,  saith  the  Lord  God :  wherefore  turn  your- 
selves, and  live  ye." 2 

It  is  perhaps  in  the  consideration  of  these  vital 
principles — principles  that  seem  to  be  involved  in  the 
existence  of  God,  the  free-will  of  man,  and  his  relation- 
ship to  his  Maker — that  we  may  find  the  best  answer  to 
the  query  why  no  clearer  revelation  as  to  a  future  life 
was  given  to  Israel.  If  such  a  revelation  had  been 
needful  in  order  that  men  should  attain  their  end,  then 
it  would  be  difficult  to  harmonise  the  fact  that  it  was 
withheld  with  the  fact  of  the  goodness  and  justice  of 

^  Ezek.  xviii.  20.  ^  Ezek.  xviii.  30,  32. 


The  Witness  of  the  Old  Testament        79 

God.  But  from  the  very  first  we  find  the  principle  laid 
down  that  well-doing  is  the  true  service  of  God  and 
that  evil-doing  means  the  rejection  of  God.  No  gifts, 
no  external  ceremonial  worship,  could  possibly  be 
accepted  in  place  of  that  obedience  of  which  worship 
was  meant  to  be  the  outward  expression.  Cain  offered 
to  God  a  sacrifice  of  the  fruit  of  the  earth,  but  it  had 
no  moral  value :  it  did  not  represent  the  inward 
obedience  of  the  will  of  Cain  to  the  will  of  God.  It 
was  an  acted  lie,  and  therefore  for  that  reason  it  was 
rejected :  "  If  thou  doest  well,  shalt  thou  not  be  accepted  ? 
and  if  thou  doest  not  well,  sin  lieth  at  the  door."^  In 
the  earlier  stages  of  the  moral  education  of  Israel,  it 
was  above  all  things  needful  for  them  to  grasp  the 
importance  of  well-doing  here  and  now,  and  the  value 
of  character.  It  may  have  been  for  this  reason  that 
obedience  and  disobedience  were  sanctioned  by  temporal 
rewards  and  punishments.  Man  had  to  learn  that  sin 
is  nothing  else  than  a  wilful  marring  of  the  perfection 
of  the  soul,  a  departure  from  the  likeness  of  God,  and 
therefore  sin  necessarily  brought  with  it  some  un- 
happiness.  This  fact  was,  as  it  were,  made  visible  to 
Israel  by  temporal  rewards  and  punishments.  From 
these  they  were  meant  to  learn  that  sin  brought  ruin  into 
the  hidden  life  of  the  soul. 

If  it  be  objected  that  sin  is  often  committed  by  an 
act  of  the  will,  and  that  such  spiritual  sin  was  not 
visited  upon   Israel  by  temporal  calamity,  the  answer 

^  Gen.  iv.  7. 


8o  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

may  be  that  it  is  only  when  sin  enlists  the  body  in 
its  service  that  a  temporal  penalty,  here  and  now,  is 
made  possible.  And  again,  the  knowledge  of  evil  and 
its  deliberate  choice  are  essential  to  all  formal — as 
distinct  from  material — sin.  If  Israel  did  not  know  the 
sinfulness  of  much  that  we  know  to  be  sin,  then  they 
could  not  be  guilty  in  the  sight  of  God. 

External  wrong-doing  from  the  first  brought  visible 
punishment,  but  it  was  only  as  the  knowledge  of  God 
became  greater  that  the  estimate  of  sin  became  more 
adequate.  When  it  was  fully  understood  that  sin  lay  in 
the  alienation  from  God  of  the  spiritual  faculties  of  the 
soul,  whether  or  no  this  was  manifested  in  action,  then 
it  was  also  perceived  that  the  spirit  itself,  even  apart 
from  the  body,  might  be  unhappy  and  suffer.  If 
happiness  is  likeness  to  God,  the  misery  of  the  soul  that 
is  utterly  at  variance  with  God  necessarily  follows. 
This  unhappiness  will  be  realised  just  in  proportion  as 
the  alienation  of  the  will  from  the  Divine  will  is  more 
or  less  clearly  understood.  It  may  well  be  that  in  this 
life  the  knowledge  never  comes  so  clearly  as  it  comes 
when  the  mists  of  time  have  passed  away,  and  the  spirit 
of  man  is  brought  into  the  conscious  presence  of  Him 
Who  is  Spirit. 

The  life  of  God's  people  under  the  old  Law  may 
be  said  to  have  been  the  Purgative  Way  of  the 
Church — a  time  of  seeking  after  God,  learning  of  His 
justice  and  His  power,  though  understanding  com- 
paratively little  of  His  love ;   a  time  for  learning  pre- 


The  Witness  of  the  Old  Testament        8i 

eminently    the    value    of    conduct    and    the    need    of 
repentance. 

The  coming  of  Jesus  Christ  brought  the  Church 
into  the  Illuminative  Way.  The  prophet  Isaiah  had 
proclaimed  His  coming  and  cried  aloud  to  Jerusalem, 
Surge  illtiminare  — "  Arise,  be  enlightened  ;  for  thy 
light  is  come,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  is  risen  upon 
thee."^  In  this  Illuminative  Way  the  Church  is  called 
into  friendship  with  God  through  Jesus  Christ ;  with 
the  clearer  light  and  greater  knowledge  of  God  came 
a  more  adequate  sense  of  the  misery  of  sin  as  the 
power  that  cuts  off  the  soul  from  the  divine  light 
and  plunges  it  into  darkness.  The  Psalmist  had  said, 
Dominus  illuniinatio  mea — "The  Lord  is  my  light"; 
but  to  the  Church  of  old  it  was  not  given  fully  to 
understand  the  way  in  which  this  truth  was  to  be 
realised  through  the  Incarnation  of  that  Divine  Word, 
Who  is  "the  brightness  of  His  glory," ^  Who  in  the 
beginning  had  said,  "  Let  there  be  light."  But  if  the 
Jewish  Church  did  not  understand  the  full  glory  of 
God,  neither  does  the  Christian  Church  while  on  earth 
completely  realise  the  brightness  of  the  heavenly  vision 
that  has  been  in  part  disclosed  to  her  by  the  Incarna- 
tion of  the  Eternal  Word.  That  beatitude  is  reserved 
for  the  future — when  the  Church  in  the  Unitive  Way 
shall  enter  into  a  perfect  union  with  God,  and  become 
the  Church  Triumphant,  no  longer  knowing  in  part, 
but  fully,  even  as  she  is  known. 

^  Isa.  Ix.  I  (margin).  ^  Heb.  i.  3. 


82  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

"  In  a  glass,  through  types  and  riddles, 

Dwelling  here  we  see  alone; 
Then  serenely,  purely,  clearly. 

We  shall  know  as  we  are  known, 
Fixing  our  enlightened  vision 

On  the  glory  of  the  Throne." 

As  Israel  had  but  little  knowledge  of  the  mystery 
of  the  Divine  Being,  so  they  had  also  but  a  dim  idea 
of  the  things  that  God  has  prepared  for  them  that  love 
Him.  The  veil  that  lay  across  the  spiritual  vision  of 
God's  people  made  the  realm  of  the  departed  seem  a 
gloomy  and  drear  abode,  where  the  spirit  endured  an 
aimless  and  shadowy  existence — a  living  death  rather 
than  a  fuller  life.  The  divine  method  of  education  was 
to  lead  men  step  by  step  upward  towards  the  divine 
light :  "  Precept  hath  been  upon  precept ;  line  upon  line, 
line  upon  line ;  here  a  little,  and  there  a  little."  ^ 

But  there  is  another  reason  why  perhaps  little  as  to 
the  future  life  was  revealed  to  Israel.  The  state  of  the 
dead  before  the  Incarnation  was  only  a  temporary 
one.  It  was  to  be  essentially  changed  by  the  victory 
of  Christ  over  death.  It  may  not  have  been  worth 
while  to  fix  the  thoughts  of  men  upon  this  imper- 
fect condition  of  the  disembodied  spirit,  when  the 
world  was  expecting  a  Messiah  who  should  bring 
"  life  and  immortality  to  light  through  the  gospel."  ^ 
The  mystic  Paradise  was  once  more  to  be  "opened 
to  all  believers " ;  the  fallen  temple  was  to  be  re- 
built  and   the    promise   fulfilled,   "The    glory   of  this 

■^  Isa.  xxviii.  lO  (margin).  ^  2  Tim.  i.  lo. 


The  Witness  of  the  Old  Testament  •      83 

latter  house  shall  be  greater  than  of  the  former,  saith 
the  Lord  of  hosts :  and  in  this  place  will  I  give 
peace,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."  ^  The  Second  Adam 
was  far  to  exceed  the  first  man  in  glory,  and  in  Him 
the  holy  temple  builded  of  living  stones  was  to  rise 
up  to  God,  crowned  with  light,  the  home  of  love  and 
joy  and  peace.  As  the  dawn  of  the  coming  light 
drew  near,  the  darkness  began  to  melt  away.  Hence 
we  find  that  among  the  Gentiles — the  people  that  are 
especially  said  to  have  "sat  in  darkness" — there  was 
a  growing  sense  of  the  reality  of  the  life  after  death, 
and  in  Plato  we  have  many  a  foregleam  of  the  hope 
of  the  Gospel,  that  death  was  the  gate  of  a  brighter, 
happier  world  of  which  "no  earthly  bard  has  ever 
yet  sung,  or  ever  will  sing,  in  worthy  strains."  ^ 

After  the  close  of  the  canon  of  the  Old  Testament 
Israel  was  brought  into  close  contact  with  Greek 
thought.  The  deutero-canonical  Scriptures  were  mostly 
written  in  Greek,  and  date  in  part  from  the  Captivity, 
and  in  part  from  the  last  three  centuries  before  Christ. 
The  Hebrew  prophet  Malachi,  and  Plato — who  may  be 
called  the  prophet  of  ancient  Greece — both  lived  in  the 
fourth  century  before  Christ.  In  the  book  called  "  The 
Wisdom  of  Solomon  " — written  in  Greek  at  Alexandria 
— we  have  the  Platonic  doctrine  of  the  immortality  of 
the  soul  clearly  taught.  To  this  book  we  owe  the 
sublime  thought  that  the  "  souls  of  the  righteous  are  in 
the  hand  of  God,"^  words  that  were  hallowed  by  the 

^  Hag.  ii.  9.  '^  Fhcedrus,  247.  ^  Wisdom  iii.  i. 


84  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

cry  uttered  in  the  darkness  of  Calvary,  at  the  cHmax 
of  the  supreme  sacrifice  of  the  Incarnate  Word  — 
"  Father,  into  Thy  hands  I  commend  My  Spirit " ; 
words  which  have  Hngered  on  in  the  Latin  portion 
of  the  Western  Church,  to  be  repeated  in  her  CompHne 
Office  night  by  night  as  she  commits  herself  to  the 
divine  protection — "  In  manus  Tuas  Domine  commen- 
do  spiritum  meum  " ;  words  that  echo  around  the  bed 
of  death  when  in  our  own  Office  the  priest  commends 
the  departing  soul  to  God,  "as  into  the  hands  of  a 
faithful  Creator  and  most  merciful  Saviour."  ^ 


1  << 


Visitation  of  the  Sick  "  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 


VI. 

?Cbe  Mitne66  of  ancient  (Breece  anb  IRome 


MORS    REGNAVIT 

A  little  mirth,  a  little  song, 
And  then,  farewell  the  merry  throng  : 
A  greeting,  then  a  quick  "  Good-bye," 

And  no  reply. 

A  little  laughter  and  some  tears  ; 
A  glance  behind  at  happy  years. 
And  then  one  beckons  at  the  door. 

And  all  is  o'er. 

A  sunrise  clouded  ere  the  sun 
Had  scarce  his  wonted  race  begun  : 
A  torch  extinguished — save  a  spark. 

And  then  the  dark. 


R.  E.  H. 


VI. 

Ubc  TOttness  of  Hnctetit  Greece  anb  1Rome 

WE  have  seen  that  among  the  Hebrew  people,  at 
the  close  of  the  canonical  Scriptures  of  the  Old 
Testament,  the  expectation  of  a  resurrection  of  the 
body  was  the  hope  to  which  their  thoughts  were  chiefly 
directed.  It  is  only  incidentally  that  we  find  in  the 
Old  Testament  anything  that  helps  us  to  form  an  idea 
of  what  the  Jews  thought  about  the  intermediate  state. 
The  teaching  contained  in  some  of  their  uncanonical 
sacred  Books  is  more  definite  as  to  the  state  of  the 
disembodied  soul,  but  on  the  whole  we  feel  that,  al- 
though there  was  a  growing  hope  that  the  body  would 
rise  again  at  the  last  day,^  there  was  no  dogmatic  teach- 
ing on  this  subject,  nothing  that — to  use  a  modern 
expression — could  be  called  de  fide. 

We  have  now  briefly  to  consider  what  was  the  belief 
as  to  the  state  of  the  dead  among  the  Gentiles  before 
the  coming  of  Christ.  It  is  sometimes  objected  that  it 
is  waste  of  time,  or  worse,  to  discuss  what  was  taught 
and  "believed  in  the  Pagan  world.  There  might  be 
some  ground  for  this  attitude  towards  pre-Christian 
speculation  if  it  were  not  for  the  fact  that  GOD  from 

87 


88  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

the  first  gave  light  to  all  His  children,  though  in  varying 
degrees.  The  "  Light  which  lighteth  every  man  that 
Cometh  into  the  world  "  enabled  many  among  the  great 
teachers  of  antiquity  to  come  very  near  indeed  to  what 
we  believe  to  be  the  truth.  St.  Paul  did  not  hesitate 
to  refer  to  the  poets  of  "  pagan "  Greece  and  Rome 
when  their  witness  could  be  quoted  in  support  of  the 
faith  of  the  Gospel.^ 

The  Fathers  of  the  Church  vary  very  much  in  their 
tone  when  speaking  of  the  Pagan  philosophers  and 
the  teaching  of  the  poets  and  writers  of  the  old  world  ; 
but  they  agree  in  recognising  the  fact  that  there  were 
many  fragments  of  truth,  many  anticipations  of  the 
Gospel,  to  be  found  in  the  mythologies  and  philosophies 
of  the  past. 

"  The  heathen  philosophy,"  writes  Clement  of  Alex- 
andria, "  is  not  deleterious  to  Christian  life,  and  those 
who  represent  it  as  a  school  of  error  and  immorality 
calumniate  it,  for  it  is  light,  the  image  of  truth,  and 
a  gift  which  God  has  bestowed  upon  the  Greeks  ;  far 
from  harming  the  truth  by  empty  delusions,  it  but  gives 
us  another  bulwark  for  the  truth,  and  as  a  sister  science 
helps  to  establish  faith.  Philosophy  educated  the 
Greeks,  as  the  law  educated  the  Jews,  in  order  that 
both  might   be   led    to  Christ."      "  He,  therefore,  who 

^  Acts  xvii.   28.     These  poets  were  probably  Aratus  (B.C.   270),   of 
Cilicia,  St.  Paul's  own  country  ;  also  Cleanthes  (b.c.  300),  of  Assos  in  Troas 
(Hymn  to  Zeus).     Virgil^  4  Georg.  ;  Cicero,  lib.  2  de  Natura  Deorum,  etc. 
St.    Thomas   Aquinas   calls   the   poets,    Orpheus,    Hesiod    and    Homer, 
"theological  poets," jf>oe^a;  theologi. 


The  Witness  of  Ancient  Greece  and  Rome     89 

neglects  the  heathen  philosophy,"  says  Clement  in 
another  passage,  "is  like  the  fool  who  would  gather 
grapes  without  cultivating  the  vineyard.  But  as  the 
heathen  mingle  truth  with  falsehood,  we  must  borrow 
wisdom  from  their  philosophers  as  we  pluck  roses 
from  thorns." 

It  is  therefore  with  something  more  than  mere  idle 
curiosity  that  we  turn  to  the  past  and  ask  what  the 
ancient  Greek  world  thought  about  death  and  a  future 
life.  We  desire  to  see  how  far  the  enlightened  reason 
of  the  noblest  people  of  antiquity  lends  support  to  the 
Christian  revelation  as  to  the  soul,  its  survival  after 
death,  its  immortality  and  its  eternal  destiny.  We 
seek  to  know  how  far  the  speculations  of  the  great 
teachers  of  classical  antiquity  were  accepted  by  the 
mass  of  the  people  ;  whether  it  could  be  said  of  them, 
"  These  all  died  in  faith,  not  having  received  the 
promises,  but  having  seen  them  and  greeted  them  from 
afar."  ^ 

We  have  no  doubt  at  all  that  the  Gentiles  who  lived 
before  the  Gospel  was  preached  will  not  be  con- 
demned hereafter  for  lack  of  a  faith  that  they  could 
not  possibly  have  had.  The  very  idea  of  such  an  un- 
deserved punishment  would  clash  with  the  elementary 
belief  in  the  existence  of  God — for  the  Supreme  Being 
must  be  just  even  before  He  is  merciful. 

We  do  not  desire,  then,  to  try  and  find  some  fore- 
gleams  of  the  Christian  faith  in  those  who  lived  before 

^  Heb.  xi.  13. 


90  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

the  Gospel,  in  order  to  justify  a  hope  for  the  salvation 
of  the  pre-Christiari'  world ;  no,  that  hope  is  based  on 
something  more  sure — the  justice  of  God.  What  we 
desire  to  do  is  to  call  a  witness — if  such  a  witness  can 
be  fairly  found — to  show  that  reason  had  led  men  to 
very  much  the  same  hope  as  that  which  has  been  more 
clearly  given  to  us  in  what  we  call  "  revelation  " — the 
faith  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Now,  whether  we  turn  to  the  far  East  and  ask  the 
ancient  teachers  of  Asia  what  they  thought  about  the 
survival  of  the  soul  after  death  and  its  future  life,  or 
whether  we  turn  to  ancient  Greece  and  Rome,  we 
shall  find  everywhere  something  more  than  a  hope  of 
another  life — we  shall  find  a  belief  in  the  life  of  the 
world  to  come.  It  is  true  that  this  belief  was  rather 
held  as  an  opinion  than  as  a  dogma,  and  that  there 
were  very  many  who  had  no  such  belief  will  not  of 
course  be  denied ;  but  still  the  great  teachers  of  both 
the  East  and  West  taught  that  the  soul  could  survive 
the  body ;  that  its  life  after  death  was  in  a  measure 
influenced  by  its  life  on  earth ;  that  there  were  in 
the  nether  world  rewards  and  punishments ;  that  a 
just  judge  determined  the  fate  of  each  soul ;  that  some 
souls  were  purified  by  suffering  and  then  rewarded, 
while  others  were  left  in  apparently  endless  woe. 

The  oldest  hymns  of  Hinduism  date  back  to  about 
B.C.  2000  and  are  contained  in  the  Rig- Veda.  Vague 
as  the  doctrine  about  the  future  life  is  in  these  hymns, 
there  is  yet  a  clear  witness  as  to  a  life  continued  after 


The  Witness  of  Ancient  Greece  and  Rome     91 

death.  It  is,  however,  to  Buddha,  who  has  been  de- 
servedly called  "the  Light  of  Asia,"  and  to  the  Brahman 
philosophers,  that  India  owes  the  orthodox  system  of 
Hindu  philosophy.  The  common  belief,  as  far  as  it 
relates  to  the  soul,  may  be  gathered  from  The  Institutes 
of  Manu,  a  book  only  less  authoritative  than  the  Veda 
in  that  it  makes  no  claim  to  inspiration. 

From  this  volume  we  learn  that  the  soul  exists  before 
its  union  with  the  body,  and  survives  its  separation  from 
the  body  at  death ;  that  the  consciousness  of  the  soul 
depends  upon  its  union  with  some  bodily  form ;  that 
the  union  of  soul  and  body  makes  it  possible  for  the 
soul  to  suffer ;  that  the  soul  by  repeated  re-incarnation 
works  its  way  towards  that  absorption  into  God  in 
which  it  loses  all  separate  existence  as  the  drop  loses 
itself  in  the  ocean. 

In  Hinduism  sacrifice  for  the  dead  holds  an  important 
place — not  as  a  means,  however,  of  obtaining  immediate 
rest  for  the  soul,  but  as  the  ordained  way  to  provide  the 
soul  with  an  intermediate  body,  by  which  it  may  con- 
tinue its  progress  through  the  temporary  hells  or  heavens 
towards  the  needful  re-incarnations  and  final  rest  of 
Nirvana. 

We  may  learn  from  Homer  what  was  perhaps  the 
popular  belief  in  ancient  Greece  before  the  rise  of 
philosophy.  He  speaks  of  the  soul  as  being  an 
attenuated  essence  that  escapes  at  death  from  the  body 
and  retains  a  shadowy  form  of  the  body.  In  the  nether 
world  the  soul  pursues  a  kind  of  dreamy  repetition  of 


92  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

its  life  on  earth.  The  loss  of  the  body  has  reduced  the 
soul  to  a  pitiable,  mindless  state. 

As  to  punishments  and  rewards,  Homer  supposes  that 
great  offenders  are  doomed  to  unavailing  toil  and  the 
torment  of  unsatisfied  desires.  Still  more  terrible  is  the 
fate  of  those  who  are  sent  to  Tartarus,  with  its  iron 
gates  and  brazen  floor — a  fearful  prison-house  reserved 
for  great  criminals  who  have  defied  Almighty  Zeus. 
The  heroes  of  Homer's  poems,  on  the  contrary,  do  not 
descend  to  Hades,  but  are  borne  to  the  Islands  of  the 
Blest. 

This  teaching  gathered  from  the  Homeric  poems  is 
remarkably  like  that  we  have  found  in  parts  of  the 
Old  Testament  and  what  we  shall  find  in  Jewish 
tradition.  In  both  we  notice  that  the  soul,  while 
surviving  death,  is  reduced  to  a  woeful  state  by  the 
loss  of  the  body.  The  likeness  between  the  Jewish 
Gehenna  and  the  Greek  Tartarus  is  beyond  question, 
and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  Garden  of  Eden  of 
Jewish  eschatology  and  the  Islands  of  the  Blest  in 
the  classics. 

We  pass  onwards  four  hundred  years,  and  find  in 
Plato  a  doctrine  that  is  not  far  from  the  faith  of 
Christendom ;  though  having  no  hope  of  a  resurrection 
of  the  body,  Plato  naturally  teaches  that  the  body 
is  the  great  hindrance  of  the  soul,  and  the  supreme 
joy  of  the  soul  is  to  escape  for  ever  from  the  body. 
Re-incarnation,  Plato  teaches,  is  a  punishment ;  but 
while  in  this  he  agrees  with  the  Hindu  belief,  he  differs 


The  Witness  of  Ancient  Greece  and  Rome     93 

altogether  from  it  in  claiming  for  the  reward  of  the 
perfected  soul  a  conscious  individual  existence,  in  which 
its  noblest  powers  will  be  employed  in  the  contem- 
plation of  the  uncreated  Beauty.  The  psychology  of 
Plato  is  not  a  formal  system,  but  he  is  quite  clear 
that  the  soul  survives  the  body,^  is  akin  to  the  divine,^ 
desires  to  escape  from  the  body,^  and  go  to  its  home 
with  God.4 

In  the  myths  that  relate  to  the  life  of  the  disembodied 
soul  ^  the  imagery  varies,  but  the  main  drift  of  the 
teaching  is  the  same.  There  is  a  judgment  of  the  soul, 
followed  either  by  reward  or  by  punishment  of  varying 
duration.  In  the  Stygian  lake  some  souls — those  who 
have  lived  neither  well  nor  ill — endure  remedial  suffer- 
ing ;  the  incurably  bad  are  hurled  into  Tartarus  and 
"  never  come  out,"  while  criminals  who  are  not  hope- 
lessly depraved  fall  into  Tartarus  and  abide  there  until 
they  obtain  the  pardon  they  desire  from  those  they  have 
injured.  Those  who  have  been  notably  righteous  "  go 
to  their  pure  home  which  is  above,"  and  they  who  have 
followed  philosophy  depart  to  places  fairer  still  and 
merit  for  ever  to  be  freed  from  the  body.^ 

We  may  remember  that  the  teaching  given  to  the 
world  by  Plato  was  within  the  reach  of  the  authors 
of  the  deutero-canonical  Scriptures.     The  Canon  of  the 

^  He  taught  also  its  pre-existence.  '^  Fhcedo,  79> 

^  Fhcedrits,  250.    Phcsdo,  8 1 -3.  ^  Sytii.^  210-1.    Fhado,  81. 

^  Meno,  86. 

^  Fkado,  1 1 3-4;  Republic,  10,  621  a  ;  Fhcedrus,  253;  GorgiaSy  523-4. 


94  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

Old  Testament  ended  in  397  B.C.,  and  Socrates  died 
399  B.C.,  when  Plato  was  about  the  age  of  thirty. 

The  Book  of  the  Wisdom  of  Solomon,  for  example, 
was  written  in  Greek  at  Alexandria,  probably  within  a 
century  before  the  Christian  era.  Its  teaching  bears  un- 
mistakable evidence  of  the  influence  of  Greek  philosophy 
— a  marked  contrast  in  this  respect  to  the  purely  Hebrew 
Book,  Ecclesiasticus.  But  it  may  well  be  asked  how  far 
the  teaching  of  one  so  highly  gifted  as  Plato,  was  as- 
similated by  the  popular  mind  of  ancient  Greece.  Did 
the  mass  of  the  people  believe  in  the  survival  of  the  soul 
after  death?  and  if  so,  what  sort  of  life  did  they  think  the 
soul  lived  in  Hades  ? 

To  answer  these  questions  we  can  hardly  find  any 
more  satisfactory  witness  than  that  furnished  by  the 
brief  epigrams  collected  in  the  Greek  Anthology.^ 

Mr.  Addington  Symonds  in  his  Studies  of  the  Greek 
Poets  writes :  "  The  Anthology  may  from  some  points 
of  view  be  regarded  as  the  most  valuable  relic  of  antique 
literature    which    we   possess.      Composed    of    several 

^  About  200  B.C.  the  collection  of  the  fragments  contained  in  the  An- 
thology was  begun  by  Polemon.  It  was  continued  by  others,  and  their 
various  collections  of  epigrams  were  put  together  by  Agathias,  a  Byzantine 
Greek  of  the  age  of  Justinian.  The  collection,  however,  was  not  even 
then  complete.  Planudes,  a  monk  of  the  fourteenth  century,  mutilated 
the  collection  of  Cephalas,  and  but  for  the  work  of  Claude  de  Saumise, 
1606,  who  discovered  in  the  Palatine  Library  at  Heidelberg  a  copy  of  the 
Anthology  of  Cephalas  and  re-edited  it,  we  should  perhaps  have  lost 
many  of  the  most  beautiful,  if  not  the  most  edifying,  of  the  epigrams.  I 
have  used  the  new  Firmin-Didot  edition  in  Greek  and  Latin,  Paris  (vol.  i. 
1871,  vol.  ii.  1888). 


The  Witness  of  Ancient  Greece  and  Rome     95 

thousand  short  poems,  written  for  the  most  part  in 
the  elegiac  metre,  at  different  times  and  by  a  multitude 
of  authors,  it  is  coextensive  with  the  whole  current  of 
Greek  history,  from  the  splendid  period  of  the  Persian 
War  to  the  decadence  of  Christianised  Byzantium.  .  .  . 
The  slight  effusions  of  these  minor  poets  are  even  nearer 
to  our  hearts  than  the  masterpieces  of  the  noblest  Greek 
literature.  They  treat  with  a  touching  limpidity  and 
sweetness  of  the  joys  and  fears  and  hopes  and  sorrows 
that  are  common  to  all  humanity.  They  introduce  us 
to  the  actual  life  of  a  bygone  civilization,  stripped  of  its 
political  or  religious  accidents,  and  tell  us  that  the 
Greeks  of  Athens  or  of  Sidon  thought  and  felt  exactly 
as  we  feel." 

There  are  seven  hundred  and  forty-eight  "  Sepulchral 
Epigrams."  1  Very  many  of  these  are  graceful  tributes 
to  the  departed  — recalling  briefly  the  story  of  life  and 
the  occasion  of  death — but  showing  neither  belief  in 
nor  denial  of  a  future  life.  It  is  only  possible  here  to 
refer  to  a  very  few  of  the  many  that  might  be  quoted  as 
expressing  belief  in  a  life  after  death.  For  instance — 
in  what  Mr.  Addington  Symonds  speaks  of  as  "  the 
silver  language  of  Simonides  " — we  have  the  following 
literary  epitaph  for  the  grave  of  the  poet  Anacreon.-' 

1  'ETriypafifiara  iiriTijfjL^ia — inscriptions  on  tombs.  Some  are  merely 
literary  exercises. 

"^  Epigram  25.  I  have  not  attempted  a  literal  translation  of  this  or 
other  epigrams.  In  each  case  where  the  translation  is  not  my  own  I 
have  given  the  name  of  the  translator. 


96  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

"  In  Teos  born,  in  Teos  rests  Anacreon, 
The  immortal  bard,  who  sweetly  sang  of  youth  and  love. 
Alas  !     How  lonely  and  how  sad  is  now  his  lot ! 
Sad,  since  in  Lethe's  drear  abodes  no  sunlight  falls. 
But  oh,  more  sad  since  he  is  now  bereft  of  those 
He  fondly  loved — Megistias,  Smerdis  and  the  rest : 
These  he  has  left  behind,  but  still  he  tunes  his  lyre 
To  chant  of  love,  and  fills  the  shadowy  land  with  song." 

Here  we  have,  at  least,  the  picture  of  a  life  unbroken 
by  death,  though  temporarily  deprived  of  the  fellowship 
which  gave  to  life  on  earth  its  grace  and  joy. 

The  confident  hope  that  the  ties  of  earth  would  be 
renewed  hereafter  is  touchingly  dwelt  upon  in  the 
following  epigram  on  the  tomb  of  a  slave,  whom  his 
master  had  buried  as  a  freeman. 

"  Only  a  slave,  yea  but  a  slave, 
Yet  thou,  O  master  mine. 
Thy  foster-father  slave  hast  placed 
In  this  free  tomb  of  thine. 

**  Long  life  to  thee,  and  free  from  care  ! 
When  thou  shalt  come  to  me. 
In  Hades  thou  wilt  find  me  still 
A  faithful  slave  to  thee."  ^ 

The  absence  of  the  sunlight  in  Hades  is  very  often 
dwelt  upon.  To  the  Greeks  the  sun  was  not  only  the 
great  power  that  transfigured  and  beautified  all  nature, 
but  also  the  symbol  of  their  chief  divinity.  To  be 
deprived  of  the  sun  was  indeed  to  lose  the  brightness 
of  life  itself.  On  the  tomb  of  a  slave  who — as  often 
happened — was  devoted  to  his  master  we  read : 

1  Epig.  178. 


The  Witness  of  Ancient  Greece  and  Rome     97 

"  Life  e'en  in  Hades,  master,  has  no  grief  for  me, 
Since,  though  no  sun  shines  there,  I  still  shall  live  for  thee."^ 

The  same  idea  of  life  and  influence  carried  into 
another  sphere  is  found  in  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of 
the  epitaphs.  It  was  composed  by  Plato  for  one  of  his 
disciples  named  Aster,^  and  plays  upon  the  meaning  of 
his  name. 

"  Thou  wert  the  morning  star  among  the  living 
Ere  thy  fair  light  had  fled  ; 
Now,  having  died,  thou  art  as  Hesperus  giving 
New  splendour  to  the  dead."^ 

The  strong  human  desire  to  be  remembered  by 
those  who  have  gone  into  the  silent  land,  is  portrayed 
in  an  inscription  which  Mr.  Addington  Symonds  con- 
siders perhaps  the  most  beautiful  of  the  sepulchral 
epigrams.     The  epigram  itself  is  as  follows : — 

"  This  little  stone,  dear  Sabinus,  is  a  monument  of  our  great 
friendship.  I  seek  thee  ever  ;  if  it  be  lawful  among  the  dead,  do 
thou  refuse  to  drink  the  waters  of  Lethe  as  far  as  I  am  concerned."  * 

Mr.  Symonds  has  expressed  the  thought  of  the 
epigram  in  the  following  beautiful  paraphrase : — 

"  Of  our  great  love,  Parthenophil, 
This  little  stone  abideth  still 

Sole  sign  and  token : 
I  seek  thee  yet,  and  yet  shall  seek, 
Though  faint  mine  eyes,  my  spirit  weak 

With  prayers  unspoken. 

^  Epigram  i8o.     The  Pal.  Ant.  reads  "I  shall  live  beneath  thy  sun," 
i.e.  in  thy  favour. 
^  'A(TTr]p,  a  star.  '  Epigram  670.     Translation  by  Shelley. 

*  Epig.  346. 

H 


98  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

"  Meanwhile,  best  friend  of  friends,  do  thou      • 
If  this  the  cruel  fates  allow, 

By  death's  dark  river, 
Among  those  shadowy  people,  drink 
No  drop  for  me  on  Lethe's  brink ; 

Forget  me  never  ! "  • 

By  far  the  greater  number  of  the  sepulchral  epigrams 

that  speak  of  a  future  life  refer  to  it  in  terms  similar 

to  those  already  quoted.      There  are,  however,  some 

that  breathe  a  more  hopeful  spirit,  some  that  portray 

the   life   after    death   as    not    altogether    gloomy   and 

cheerless.     Thus  in  the  following  lines  we  are  reminded 

that  the  eschatology  of  ancient  Greece  had  a  hope  for 

some   of    her    children    of    a    brighter    life    than    that 

usually   associated   with   the   thought  of  Hades.     For 

some   there   is   the   prospect   of    the    calm   enjoyment 

of  the  Isles  of  the  Blessed,  or  of  Heaven. 

"  Earth  gave  thee  life,  the  sea  that  life  destroyed, 
The  realms  of  Pluto  then  received  thy  soul ; 
And  thence  to  heaven  ^  thou  didst  wing  thy  way. 
Not  chance,  in  shipwreck,  took  away  thy  life, 
But  death  beneath  the  waves  was  sent  to  thee 
That  not  one  realm  of  the  immortal  gods 
Should  lack  thy  presence,  but  earth,  and  sea,  and  sky. 
And  Pluto's  dim  and  shadowy  dwelling  place. 
Might  each  some  glory  from  Pamphile  gain."  ^ 

Or  again,  in  the  fine  anonymous  epitaph : — 

"  Earth  in  her  breast  hides  Plato's  dust :  his  soul 
The  blest  immortals  in  their  ranks  enrol "  ^ 

^  ovpavov.  ^  Xddu  <T€  riKCP,  vii.  587. 

■^  Tata  fih,  vii.  61,  trans.  J.  A.  Symonds. 


The  Witness  of  Ancient  Greece  and  Rome     99 

— and  the  other  epitaph  which  asks  of  the  sculptured 
eagle  on  the  tomb  of  Plato  why  it  is   there,  and   is 

answered  : — 

"  I  am  the  image  of  swift  Plato's  spirit, 
Ascending  Heaven :  Athens  does  inherit 
His  corpse  below."  ^ 

On  a  boy's  tomb  we  find  the  following: — 

"  This  grave  now  holds  the  youth  Colocaerus, 
Since  his  immortal  soul  forsook  its  home, 
And  leaving  earthly  sorrow  winged  its  way 
Onward  and  upward  toward  yon  happy  heaven. 
That  there  it  might — free  from  the  stains  of  earth — 
Find  entry,  and  abide  for  ever  pure."^ 

But   seldom   do   we   find    so    glad   a   hope   as    that 

expressed  in  the  following  epitaph : — 

"  Thou  art  not  dead,  my  Prote  !  thou  art  flown 
To  a  far  country  better  than  our  own ; 
Thy  home  is  now  an  Island  of  the  Blest;- 
There  'mid  Elysian  meadows  take  thy  rest : 
Or  lightly  trip  along  the  flowery  glade. 
Rich  with  the  asphodels  that  never  fade  ! 
Nor  pain,  nor  cold,  nor  toil,  shall  vex  thee  more, 
Nor  thirst  nor  hunger  on  that  happy  shore ; 
Nor  longings  vain  (now  that  blest  life  is  won) 
For  such  poor  days  as  mortals  here  drag  on ; 
To  thee  for  aye  a  blameless  life  is  given 
In  the  pure  light  of  ever-present  Heaven."  ^ 

In  the  original  the  last  line  and  a  half  is  even  more 
Christian    in    tone    than    it    appears    in    the   poetical 

^  Ater^,  TiVre,  vii.  62,  trans.  Shelley. 
^  Epig.  195.     Appendix. 

'^  ovK  ^daves,  trans,  by  J.  A.  Symonds,  M.  D.     Ep,  278  of  Appendix  (not 
in  Palatine  Anthology)  to  Jacobs'  edition. 


loo  The  Sold  in  the  Unseen  World 

translation.  It  is  :  "  Thou  livest  now  in  the  pure  light 
of  Olympus  near  to  the  Supreme  Being." 

With  these  memorials  of  the  past  in  our  mind  it  is 
not  too  much  to  say  that,  although  as  a  whole  the 
Epigrams  speak  of  death  as  the  end  of  all  that  is 
joyous,  and  Hades  as  a  place  of  gloom,  yet  they 
show  that  to  many  in  ancient  Greece  the  reality  of 
the  life  of  the  world  to  come  was  a  familiar  thought ; 
that  hereafter  it  was  hoped  the  dead  would  meet  again 
and  know  one  another ;  while,  if  the  thought  of  the 
disembodied  soul  was  usually  associated  with  the 
belief  that  the  life  after  death  was  a  maimed  and 
imperfect  life,  there  are  yet  signs  that  to  many  of  the 
old  world  a  brighter  hope  was  not  unknown. 

It  may  be  noticed  that  in  the  epitaphs  we  have 
no  mention  of  Tartarus,  or  of  penal  suffering  after 
death.  This,  however,  is  no  proof  that  the  Greeks 
did  not  believe  in  the  possibility  of  punishment  here- 
after. We  have  already  referred  to  some  of  the 
passages  in  which  Plato  speaks  of  the  future  life  as 
one  in  which  there  would  be  for  some  a  penal 
discipline.  It  is  needless  to  multiply  quotations  from 
the  writings  of  poets  and  philosophers,  as  none  will 
care  to  question  the  fact  that  many  of  them  speak 
of  the  survival  of  the  soul,  or  that  some  refer  to  its 
sufferings  in  Hades.  We  seldom,  if  ever,  find  any 
reference  to  "  hell "  in  Christian  epitaphs.  In  the 
abstract  we  may  and  do  admit  that  a  state  of  misery 
exists,  but  we  never  associate  the  thought  of  it  with 


The  Witness  of  Ancient  Gi^eece  and  Rome     loi 

those  we  have  personally  loved  and  lost.  In  a  few 
of  the  sepulchral  epigrams  we  read  indeed  that  a 
certain  pain  of  loss  is  felt  by  some  of  the  dead.  It 
is,  however,  very  far  from  what  Christians  mean  by 
the  pcena  damni,  i.e.  the  loss  of  the  presence  of  God. 
The  pain  of  loss  attributed  by  the  Greeks  to  their 
departed  is  the  suffering  that  arises  from  the  loss 
of  the  body.i  The  soul  is  still  a  prey  to  its  passions, 
but  it  is  without  the  power  to  gratify  them.  It  would 
be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  Greeks  thought  that 
this  was  a  punishment ;  it  was  rather  a  sad  misfortune 
intended  to  stir  our  pity  for  the  dead,  and  the  best 
that  could  be  wished  them  would  be  the  restoration 
of  such  of  their  lost  faculties  as  would  allow  them 
once  again  to  start  upon  the  pursuit  of  those  things 
that  gave  them  pleasure  upon  earth.  Thus  in  a 
literary  epitaph  on  the  poet  Anacreon  we  are  told 
that  even  the  cold  and  cheerless  abode  of  Hades 
could  not  chill  the  ardour  of  his  love,  but  rather 
increased  the  warmth  of  his  passionate  affection  for 
the  friends  he  had  been  obliged  to  quit,  so  that  he 
suffered  greatly  from  their  loss.^ 

It  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  at  any  length  upon  the 

^  The  Philosophers,  on  the  contrary,  desired  to  be  free  from  the  body,  as 
they  regarded  it  as  a  great  hindrance  to  spiritual  life.  This  St.  Paul  also 
taught  when  he  spoke  of  "this  vile  body" — the  body  of  our  humihation 
— but  he  knew,  what  Plato  did  not,  that  the  spiritual  body  of  the  risen 
life  would  be  a  fit  instrument  of  the  soul,  and  no  longer  weigh  it  down. 
See  Phadooi  Plato,  64-6,  and  81. 

^  Epig.   30.     The  last  line  of  the  original  is  (bv  o\os  wStVeis   K6'7rpidi 


I02  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  Wo74d 

witness  to  a  future  life  found  in  the  Latin  authors  of 
classical  antiquity.  In  the  main  they  may  be  said  to 
have  looked  upon  the  survival  of  the  soul  as  the  Greeks 
did — that  is  to  say,  as  an  opinion.  In  the  sixth  book 
of  the  ^neid  Virgil  describes  the  nether  world  in  much 
the  same  way  as  Dante  portrayed  it,  with  the  exception 
that  Virgil  introduces  the  doctrine  of  metempsychosis. 
Thus  he  tells  how  "  pious  ^neas "  and  the  Sibyl  pass 
"  through  the  lonesome  night  and  through  the  gloom  " 
across  the  Styx,  having  seen  on  their  way  thither  the 
dread  forms  of  Grief,  Fear,  Disease,  and  Death,  and  of 
Sleep,  Death's  own  brother.  The  Furies,  and  maddening 
Discord  with  her  snaky  hair  and  blood-stained  wreaths, 
have  not  barred  their  way,  and  the  golden  bough  has 
won  them  passage  across  the  Stygian  flood  in  the  bark 
of  Charon  "  hideous  in  his  squalor." 

And  now,  having  come  to  the  "  world  of  Shades,  and 
of  Sleep,  and  of  slumberous  Night,"  amid  cries  and  loud 
wailing,  onward  by  ''  the  fields  of  mourning "  they  are 

dep/Morepr].     The  Latin  version  of  the  last  two  lines  is  as  follows  :-^ 

"  Neque  Orcus  tibi  amores  exstinxit,  sed  in  Acherontis  domo 
Versans  totus  crucians  calidiore  venere." 

Virgil  has  the  same  idea,  with  more  of  conscious   pain  and  penalty 

implied,   when  he  describes  those  in  the  Fields  of  Mourning  {lugentes 

campi)  as  they  "whom  cruel  love  wastes  with  pining  pain;  whose  sorrows 

do  not  leave  them  even  in  death — quos  durus  amor  crudeli  tabe  peredit, 

.  .   . ;  curse  non  ipsa  in  morte  relinquunt."      These  in  Dryden's  words 

are  they  who  : — 

"  ...  pining  with  desire 

Lament  too  late  their  unextinguished  fire." 

yEneid,  Book  vi.  441. 


The  Witness  of  Ancient  Greece  and  Rome     103 

led  to  the  dread  prison-house  of  Tartarus,  encircled  by  a 
rushing  river  whose  waves  are  liquid  fire.  Here  ^neas 
may  not  enter,  since  it  is  decreed  that  "none  that  is 
holy  may  tread  the  threshold  of  the  wicked/'  The 
Sibyl,  however,  describes  the  awful  tortures  that  are 
endured  by  the  unhappy  souls,  but  language  fails  her, 
and  she  concludes  with  the  declaration — 

"  Had  I  a  hundred  mouths,  a  hundred  tongues, 
And  throats  of  brass  inspired  with  iron  lungs, 
I  could  not  half  those  horrid  crimes  repeat, 
Nor  half  the  punishments  those  crimes  have  met."^ 

In  sadness  the  seer  passes  on,  and  at  last  comes  to 
"pleasant  places  and  smiling  lawns,  to  joyous  groves 
and  the  homes  of  the  blessed."  Here  the  warm  sunlight 
falls,  and  the  purple  tints  of  the  atmosphere  blend  the 
verdant  meadows  with  the  canopy  of  heaven.  In  sport 
and  song  the  heroes  and  the  fair  children  of  the  warrior 
races  of  old  pass  a  happy  life. 

But  it  is  not  until  ^neas  meets  with  the  spirit  of 
Anchises  that  he  learns  the  meaning  of  all  that  he  sees. 
The  old  man  explains  to  him  the  doctrine  of  the  soul  of 
the  universe,  which  penetrates  all  things,  and  is  stained 
by  its  indwelling  in  the  human  body — 

"  Hence  wild  desires  and  grovelling  fears, 
And  human  laughter,  human  tears  ; 
Immured  in  dungeon-seeming  night, 
They  look  abroad,  yet  see  no  light."  ^ 

^  Dryden's  version. 

^  Translator  unknown.     Plato's  theory  was  that  punishment  had  a  two- 
fold purpose — to  reform  and  to  deter.     "  No  one  punishes  an  offender  on 


104  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

But  this  injury  to  the  soul  is  not,  the  poet  says,  at 
once  healed  by  death  : 

"  Nay,  when  at  last  the  life  has  fled, 
And  left  the  body  cold  and  dead, 
E'en  tiien  there  passes  not  away 
The  painful  heritage  of  clay  ; 
Full  many  a  long  contracted  stain 
Perforce  must  linger  deep  in  grain. 
So  penal  sufferings  they  endure 
For  ancient  crime,  to  make  them  pure  ; 
Some  hang  aloft  in  open  view, 
For  winds  to  pierce  them  through  and  through. 
While  others  purge  their  guilt  deep-dyed 
In  burning  fire  or  whelming  tide."^ 

We  have  here  a  doctrine  very  similar  to  that  which — 
with  certain  additions — became  known  as  the  "  Romish 
doctrine  concerning  purgatory,"  ^  as  a  state  of  penal  tor- 
ture. It  would  seem,  like  much  else,  to  have  been  in- 
herited by  the  Papacy  from  pagan  Rome,  and  to  be  the 
distorted  expression  of  a  great  truth.  But  of  this  we 
shall  have  more  to  say  In  a  later  chapter.  There  is  one 
point,  however,  that  must  not  be  passed  over  In  entire 
silence,  and  that  Is  the  prevalence  of  religious  rites  that 
ancient  Greece  and  Rome  were  wont  to  offer  for  the 

account  of  the  past  offence,  and  simply  because  he  has  done  wrong,  but  for 
the  sake  of  the  future,  that  the  offence  may  not  be  committed  again,  either 
by  the  same  person  or  anyone  who  has  seen  him  punished  .  .  .  mere  retri- 
bution is  for  beasts,  not  men."  See  Protagoras,  324,  b.  ;  Leges  xi.  934 ; 
and  Grote's  Plato,  ii.  270. 
^  Translator  unknown. 
-  ^  In  Chapter  xiv.  I  distinguish,  of  course,  between  dogma  and  the  popular 
doctrine  of  Purgatory. 


The  Witness  of  Ancient  Greece  and  Rome     105 

dead.  Among  these  rites  even  the  burial  of  the  body 
was  not  unconnected  with  the  repose  of  the  soul.  It 
was  to  plead  for  his  burial  that  Patroklos  appeared  to  his 
friend  Achilles  and  stood  over  him  all  the  night  wailing 
and  making  moan,  saying,  "  Bury  me  with  all  speed, 
that  I  may  pass  the  gates  of  Hades.  Far  off  the  spirits 
banish  me  the  phantoms  of  men  outworn,  nor  suffer  me 
to  mingle  with  them  beyond  the  river,  but  vainly  I 
v/ander  along  beside  the  wide-gated  dwelling  of  Hades. 
Now  give  me,  I  pray  pitifully  of  thee,  thy  hand,  for 
never  more  again  shall  I  come  back  from  Hades, 
when  ye  have  given  me  my  due  of  fire."  And  when 
the  funeral  pyre  was  ready  Achilles  did  everything  as 
his  friend  had  desired,  mindful  "  that  he  was  speeding  a 
noble  comrade  unto  the  realm  of  Hades."  Thus  we 
might  trace  the  custom  of  funeral  rites  and  of  prayer 
and  sacrifice  for  the  departed  down  the  ages  from  remote 
antiquity  to  the  Christian  era.  Cicero  argued  from  the 
well-known  universality  of  such  rites  that  men  must 
have  believed  that  the  soul  survived  the  death  of  the 
body.^  To  sum  up,  we  may  say  that  both  ancient 
Greece  and  Rome  were  familiar  with  the  belief  that 
(i)  the  soul  survives  the  death  of  the  body;  (2)  that 
the  incurably  wicked  suffer  punishments  that  are  very 

^  See  De  Ainiciiia  and  De  SenecHite.  Tacitus,  Agncola,  c.  46,  and 
Lucretius,  De  Nat.  There  was,  no  doubt,  a  widespread  scepticism  as  to  a 
future  life  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  The  very  writers  who  argue 
for  a  survival  of  the  soul  show  they  were  opposed  to  much  that  was  taught. 
Juvenal  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that  in  his  time  even  boys  hardly  believed  in 
a  spirit  world. 


io6  The  Sold  in  the  Unseen  World 

prolonged,  if  not  endless ;  (3)  that  the  sin-stained  but 
not  utterly  depraved  dead  also  suffer  for  a  time  and  are 
afterwards  pardoned  ;  (4)  that  the  heroes  and  good  men 
are  rewarded  and  enjoy  a  life  of  such  happiness  as  the 
loss  of  the  body  makes  possible. 

We  have  now  to  see  how  in  all  probability  this 
Gentile  belief  influenced  the  growth  of  Jewish  tradition, 
and  through  the  Jews  helped  to  form  the  traditions  of 
Christendom. 


VII. 

Mitncss  of  3cwi0b  ^rabition 


CHRONOLOGY  FROM  CLOSE  OF  THE  CANON  OF 
THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  TO  THE  CHRISTIAN  ERA 


B.Ci  B.C. 

469.  Socrates  born.  429. 

432.  Prophecy  of  Malachi.  399. 

Dominion  of  Greece^  B. 

332.  Jerusalem  submits  to  Alex-      201. 
ander  the  Great.     This 
ends    the    Persian    Do- 
mination,  which   began      169. 
B.C.    536   at   the   fall   of 
Babylon.    Alexandria  is 
founded,    and    a    great      168. 
number   of   Jews   settle 
there.  167. 

320.  Palestine  subject  to  Egypt. 

284.  Septuagint  begun  at  Alex- 
andria. 


Plato  born. 
Socrates  died. 

c.  333-167. 

Colonies  of  Jews  from 
Babylon  transplanted  to 
Asia  Minor. 

Antiochus  Epiphanes  pro- 
fanes the  Temple  at 
Jerusalem. 

The  Daily  Sacrifice  is 
taken  away. 

Matthias  the  Maccabee 
revolts. 


Dominio7t  of  Asjnoneafis^  B.C.  167-63. 


166.  Victory  of  Judas   Macca- 

ba^us. 
165.  Re-dedication  of  Temple. 
161.  Asmonean  line  begins. 


146.  Greece  becomes  a  Roman 
Province. 

109.  First  mention  of  Pharisees 
and  Sadducees,  the 
Pharisees  representing 
strict  Hebraism,  the 
Sadducees  the  extreme 
of  Hellenism. 
63.  Pompey  takes  Jerusalem. 

Do  mini 071  of  Idumean  Antipater  and  Herod^  B.C.  63-  4. 


47. 


40. 


59- 


Julius  Caisar  appoints  An- 
tipater procurator  of 
Judsea.  Antipater  ap- 
points his  son  Herod  to 
be  governor  of  Galilee. 

Herod  made  king  of 
Judaea. 

Horace  born. 


31.  Augustus,  Emperor. 

24.  Virgil  writes  the  ^neid. 

19.  Herod    destroys    and    re- 
builds the  Temple. 
4.  Herod  dies  at  Jericho  soon 
after     the     Nativity    of 
Jesus  Christ. 


VII. 

Mitness  of  Jewtsb  Urabttion 

IT  would  be  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  we  can 
pass  at  once  from  the  Old  to  the  New  Testament. 
Between  them  there  is  a  gap  of  nearly  four  centuries, 
and  it  is  the  knowledge  of  the  beliefs  that  took  definite 
form  during  that  period  that  alone  can  enable  us  to 
gauge  the  meaning  of  much  of  the  teaching  given  to 
the  world  by  Jesus  Christ  and  His  Apostles.  But  in 
order  to  trace  the  influence  that  moulded  the  traditional 
belief  prevalent  at  the  time  of  the  Incarnation  we  must 
follow  the  political  history  of  the  Jews.  We  must  trace 
the  influence  of  the  Gentile  world  upon  Judaism,  and 
see  how  God  used  this  influence  to  prepare  the  Jew  for 
the  fuller  knowledge  of  the  Gospel,  and  out  of  the 
national  exclusiveness  of  Judaism  brought  the  world- 
wide unity  of  the  Catholic  Church.  All  that  we  are 
concerned  with  here,  however,  is  a  brief  summary  of  the 
theories  as  to  the  future  life  more  or  less  current  among 
the  Jews  at  the  time  of  the  Incarnation. 

The  Persian  dominion  over  the  Jews,  which  had  lasted 
for  230  years,  was  brought  to  an  end  by  the  submission 
of  Jerusalem  to  Alexander  the  Great,  who  had  already 

109 


no  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

overthrown  the  power  of  Media  and  Persia.  The 
European  and  Asiatic  races  were  united  by  Alexander 
under  one  Empire ;  this  led  to  the  diffusion  of  the 
Greek  language,  first  as  the  common  vehicle  of  com- 
munication in  the  East,  and  ultimately  throughout  the 
whole  civilised  world.  But  it  was  more  especially  in 
the  foundation  of  Alexandria — destined  to  become  the 
centre  of  the  three  continents  of  the  old  world,  and  the 
meeting- place  in  which  Hebrew  religion  and  Greek 
philosophy  were  to  be  united — that  Alexander  most 
profoundly  affected  the  history  of  Judaism  and  even 
of  Christianity. 

We  have  seen  how  in  the  Old  Testament  there  is  but 
a  vague  and  shadowy  teaching  as  to  the  survival  of  the 
spirit  after  the  death  of  the  body;  how,  when  the  future 
life  is  spoken  of,  the  spirit  is  represented  as  dwelling  in 
a  dim  and  joyless  place,  wrapped  in  something  like  an 
unquiet  sleep,  deprived  of  all  that  could  make  existence 
worth  having — neither  enjoying  rewards  nor  suffering 
penalties.  This  teaching  was,  however,  in  consequence 
of  Greek  influence,  greatly  modified  in  the  deutero- 
canonical  books. 

About  the  time  when  Malachi  uttered  his  prophecy 
and  gave  to  Jerusalem  the  last  of  the  canonical  Scrip- 
tures of  the  Old  Testament,  Greece  was  also  given  the 
sublime  teaching  of  Socrates. 

"  In  studying  the  character  and  life  of  Socrates  we 
know  that  we  are  contemplating  the  most  remark- 
able moral  phenomenon  in  the  ancient  world  ;  we  are 


Witness  of  Jewish   Tradition  iii 

conscious  of  having  climbed  the  highest  point  of  the 
ascent  of  Gentile  virtue  and  wisdom  ;  we  find  ourselves 
in  a  presence  which  invests  with  a  sacred  awe  its  whole 
surroundings.  We  feel  that  here  alone,  or  almost  alone, 
in  the  Grecian  world,  we  are  breathing  an  atmosphere, 
not  merely  moral,  but  religious,  not  merely  religious  (it 
may  be  a  strong  expression,  yet  we  are  borne  out  by 
the  authority  of  the  earliest  Fathers  of  the  Church),  but 
Christian.  .  .  .  Not  only  in  the  hope  "  expressed  in  the 
Hebrew  annals  "  of  a  Prince  of  the  House  of  David,  or 
an  Elijah  returning  from  the  invisible  world,  who  should 
set  right  the  wrong  and  deliver  the  oppressed,  but  in 
the  still  small  voice  that  was  heard  by  the  Ilissus  or  on 
the  quays  of  the  Piraeus  was  there  a  call  for  another 
Charmer  who  might  come  when  Socrates  was  gone — 
even  amongst  the  Barbarian  races — one  who  should  be 
sought  for  far  and  wide,  '  for  there  is  no  better  way 
of  using  money  than  to  find  such  an  one.'  Not  only 
in  the  Man  of  Sorrows,  as  depicted  by  the  Evangelical 
Prophet,  but  in  the  anticipations  of  the  Socratic  dia- 
logues, there  was  the  vision,  even  to  the  very  letter, 
of  the  Just  Man,  scorned,  despised,  condemned,  tortured, 
slain,  by  an  ungrateful  or  stupid  world,  yet  still  tri- 
umphant. And  yet  a  higher  strain  is  heard.  No  doubt 
the  Egyptian  monuments  speak  of  another  life,  and  the 
Grecian  mythology  and  poetry  spoke  of  Tartarus  and 
Elysium  and  the  Isles  of  the  Blessed.  No  doubt  the 
Hebrew  Psalmists  and  Prophets  contained  aspirations 
for  a  bright  hereafter,  and    also  dim    imagery  of  the 


112  The  Sotil  in  the  Unseen  World 

underworld  of  the  grave.  But  in  the  dialogue,  of 
Socrates  in  the  prison,^  the  conviction  of  a  future 
existence  is  urged — whatever  may  be  thought  of  the 
arguments — with  an  impressive  earnestness  which  has 
left  a  more  permanent  mark  on  the  world,  and  of  which 
the  Jewish  mind,  hitherto  so  dark  and  vacant  on  this 
momentous  topic,  was  destined  henceforth  to  become 
the  ready  recipient  and  the  chief  propagator."^ 

The  signs  of  this  influence  of  the  great  Grecian 
Prophet  and  of  his  disciple  Plato  upon  Judaism  are 
found,  partly  in  the  deutero-canonical  writings  that  to 
some  extent  fill  the  gap  between  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments,  and  partly  in  the  traditions  embodied  in 
the  other  sacred  books  of  the  Jews.^ 

The  association  of  the  deutero-canonical  books  with 
the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament  only  became 
possible  when  the  students  of  Alexandria  under 
Ptolemy  Philadelphus  had  given  to  the  world  the 
Septuagint  Greek  version  of  the  canonical  books.* 
Hebrew  literature  had  almost  ceased,  and  any  at- 
tempted additions  to  the  sacred  writings  were  neces- 

1  Phcedo,  Plato. 

2  The  Jewish  Church,  Stanley,  vol.  iii.,  pp.  220,  226. 

^  It  is  remarkable  that,  after  the  close  of  the  Canon,  it  is  in  the  Gentile 
rather  than  in  the  Jewish  literature  that  we  find  hope  of  a  Deliverer  and 
Example  of  righteousness,  and  the  coming  of  the  Golden  Age.  There  is 
no  reference  to  the  hope  of  a  Messiah  in  the  Apocrypha.  About  a  century 
before  Christ  this  hope  was  indeed  revived,  as  is  witnessed  by  the  Book  of 
Enoch,  the  Psalms  of  Solomon  and  the  Sibylline  Oracles. 

^  The  "  books  of  Moses"  were  probably  translated  first,  as  these  books 
were  considered  inspired  in  a  more  full  sense  than  even  the  Prophets. 
Gradually  and  at  intervals  the  other  books  were  translated.     The  Pales- 


Witfiess  of  Jewish   Tradition  1 1 3 

sarily  introduced  as  supplementary  to  the  Greek  rather 
than  to  the  Hebrew  Bible.  The  Septuagint  became 
the  effective  instrument  for  the  removal  of  the  barrier 
that  existed  between  the  Gentile  and  the  Jew.  More- 
over, Greek  settlements  were  planted  throughout 
Palestine,  and  even  under  the  very  shadow  of  the 
Temple  in  Jerusalem  a  Greek  gymnasium — with  its 
distinctive  games — was  instituted.  The  dress,  manners, 
and  even  morals  of  Greece  were  adopted  by  the  Jews 
of  the  holy  city  and  encouraged  by  the  High  Priests. 
The  time  came  when  the  question  had  to  be  decided 
whether  Judaism  should  continue  to  exist  as  a  distinct 
form  of  religion,  or  become  a  rationalised  Paganism. 
This  question  was  decided  by  the  success  of  the 
Chasidim — "  the  pious  "  or  strict  Hebrew  section  after- 
wards represented  by  the  Pharisees — in  their  struggle 
against  the  attempt  of  Antiochus  to  stamp  out  Judaism. 
The  Asmonean  dominion  represented  by  the  noble 
family  of  the  Maccabees  delivered  the  Jews  from 
Gentile  oppression,  and  raised  them  once  more  to 
something  of  their  former  glory. 

But  if  the  Maccabean  rule  delivered  the  Jew  from 
the  danger  of  complete  Hellenisation,  the  liberation 
from  a  foreign  yoke  was  short-lived.  Greece  herself 
fell  before   the  all-conquering   Roman    power,  and    in 

tinian  collectors  refused  all  books  as  canonical  that  were  written  after  the 
ceasing  of  prophecy.  In  Egypt  this  was  not  felt  to  be  necessary,  and  the 
Alexandrian  Jews  associated  the  "  apocryphal"  books  with  the  Septuagint. 
Hence  they  are  reckoned  in  the  Alexandrian  Canon,  but  iiot  in  the  Jewish 
or  Palestinian. 


114  The  So2d  in  the  Unseen  World 

146  B.C.  became  a  Roman  Province.  It  was  not  prob- 
able that  Palestine  could  escape  subjugation  by  the 
armies  of  Rome.  Pompey  the  Great  with  his  legions 
was  soon  before  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  and  after  a 
noble  resistance  the  holy  city  was  taken,  and  the  inner 
shrine  of  the  Temple — the  Holy  of  Holies — was  entered 
by  the  victorious  Roman  conqueror.  The  multitude  of 
Jews  that  were  led  by  Pompey  in  his  triumph  to  Rome 
formed  the  nucleus  of  the  future  Roman  Church.  From 
the  Asmonean  family  the  power  eventually  passed  in 
reality  to  Rome,  although  it  was  exercised  through  the 
Herods.  Herod  the  Great — who  was  "  by  birth  an 
Idumean,  by  profession  a  Jew,  by  necessity  a  Roman, 
by  culture  and  by  choice  a  Greek" — at  the  death  of 
his  father,  Antipater,  managed  to  ingratiate  himself 
with  Mark  Antony  and  Octavianus,  and  in  40  B.C. 
was  appointed  King  of  Judsea.  Herod  died  at  Jericho 
shortly  after  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  reign  of 
the  Emperor  Caesar  Augustus. 

It  will  be  seen,  even  from  this  rough  outline  of  a 
period  of  constant  change,  how  the  dominion  of  Greece 
— following  that  of  Persia — was  the  most  enduring. 
It  lasted  about  one  hundred  and  sixty-six  years,  while 
the  Asmonean  period  continued  one  hundred  and  four, 
and  the  Herodian  only  fifty-nine.  It  must  moreover 
be  noted  that  the  effects  of  the  Grecian  domination 
were  never  entirely  obliterated  during  the  subsequent 
changes  of  government. 

As  regards  the  teaching  of  the  Jewish  Church,  at  the 


Witness  of  Jewish   Tradition  115 

time  of  the  Incarnation  the  Synagogue  had  no  system 
of  doctrines  regularly  elaborated  into  a  creed.  The 
two  main  dogmas  of  Judaism  were  the  being  and  unity 
of  God,  and  the  claim  of  the  Scriptures  to  implicit 
belief  and  obedience.  "  In  its  general  aspect,"  writes 
Dr.  Edersheim,  "  Judaism  was  a  vast  system  of  rational- 
ism, which  according  to  the  bent  of  different  minds 
took  the  direction  of  traditionalism,  of  scepticism,  or 
of  mysticism.  The  only  settled  thing  was  the  letter  of 
the  law,  the  text  of  the  Commandments.  The  meaning 
and  application  of  the  latter  formed  subject  for  inquiry. 
The  doctrines,  or  the  spiritual  import  of  the  Bible  were, 
except  when  they  seemed  directly  to  contravene  the 
general  teaching  of  the  Synagogue,  left  unsettled  and  to 
the  free  choice  of  every  individual.  .  .  .  Jewish  tradition- 
alism took  the  threefold  direction,  which  indeed  seems 
inherent  to  human  thinking,  of  pure  adherence  to  the 
letter  of  tradition,  of  scepticism,  and  of  mysticism,  the 
latter  being  the  more  healthy  reaction  of  the  other  two 
extremes,  and  containing  the  most  numerous  remains 
of  genuine  spiritual  elements.  Before  these  tendencies 
appeared  in  the  schools,  they  were  embodied  in  the 
rival  sects  of  Pharisees,  Sadducees,  and  Essenes."  ^ 

It  is  a  point  of  great  importance  in  the  study  of 
Judaism  generally,  and  of  Jewish  traditionalism  in 
particular,  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  outward  observances, 
and  not  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible,  formed  the  subject 
of  authoritative  teaching. 

^  Hist,  of  Jewish  Natiott^  p.  408. 


1 1 6  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

From  this  fact  it  is  clear  that  we  cannot  expect  to 
find  any  doctrine  of  the  future  state  universally  accepted 
among  the  Jews.  The  rigidly  orthodox — the  Pharisees 
— believed  in  angels  and  spirits,  and  looked  for  a  resur- 
rection of  the  body — a  literal  resurrection  of  the  natural 
body  "  with  the  same  infirmities  and  diseases  "  to  which 
it  had  been  subject  on  earth,  but  which  the  hand  of  the 
Lord  would  remove ;  ^  the  sceptical  Jews,  represented 
by  the  Sadducees,  denied  the  existence  of  angels  and 
spirits,  and  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  ;  on  the  other 
hand,  the  mystical  school  represented  by  the  Essenes — 
who  later  on  became  merged  in  the  theological  school 
of  the  Kabbalah  2 — taught  the  pre-existence  and  trans- 
migration of  souls,  the  existence  of  angels,  and  a  final 
restitution  of  all  things,  in  which  Satan  and  the  evil 
spirits  would  share. 

We  have  seen  that  in  the  Old  Testament  there  are 
many  references  to  the  fact  that  the  soul  survives  the 
body,  and  passes  after  death  into  Sheol.  We  have  not, 
however,  found  any  clear  proof  in  the  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  Testament  that  in  Sheol  there  was  thought  to  be  a 
distinction  between  the  condition  of  the  righteous  and 
the  wicked.     In  the  later  books,  as  we  have  seen,  a 

^  Hist,  of  Jewish  Nation^  p.  339. 

2  The  Kabbalah  (a  word  meaning  "reception,"  or  a  "doctrine  received" 
by  oral  tradition)  became  the  naine  of  a  mystical  school  whose  doctrine 
was  of  Jewish  origin.  It  professed  to  explain  the  hidden  meaning  of  the 
Old  Testament.  The  secrets  of  this  system  were  supposed  to  have  been 
revealed  by  God,  taught  by  Angels  to  Adam,  and  handed  down  by  tradi- 
tion. The  psychology  of  the  Kabbalah  resembled  Platonism  in  some 
respects. 


Witness  of  Jewish   Tradition  1 1 7 

hope  of  escape  from  Sheol  is  held  before  the  righteous, 
and  in  one  late  author  the  wicked  also  are  raised,  but 
only  to  become  the  prey  of  shame  and  contempt.  The 
deutero-canonical  books  add  but  little  to  this  revelation 
concerning  the  future  state,  and  this  is  perhaps  strange, 
as  there  is  certainly  an  advance  in  the  language  used  as 
to  angels  and  demons.  Again,  the  statement  that  "God 
created  man  to  be  immortal  and  made  him  to  be  an 
image  of  His  own  eternity ;  nevertheless  through  envy 
of  the  devil  came  death  into  the  world,"  ^  is  not  without 
its  value  in  reference  to  the  story  of  the  creation  and 
fall  of  man.  The  belief  in  a  resurrection  of  the  body  is 
indeed  dwelt  upon  with  some  insistence  in  the  Second 
Book  of  the  Maccabees,^  where  we  read  that  those  who 
were  killed  in  battle  were  found  to  have  been  slain  in 
punishment,  because  "  under  the  coats  of  every  one  that 
was  slain  they  found  things  consecrated  to  the  idols 
of  the  Jamnites,  which  is  forbidden  the  Jews  by  the 
law."  For  these  sinners — cut  off  suddenly  in  their  sin 
— prayer  and  sacrifice  are  offered.  Judas  Maccabeus, 
it  is  said,  sent  money  to  Jerusalem  for  a  sin  offering, 
"  doing  therein  very  well  and  honestly,  in  that  he  was 
mindful  of  the  resurrection :  for  if  he  had  not  hoped 
that  they  that  were  slain  should  have  risen  again,  it 
had  been  superfluous  and  vain  to  pray  for  the  dead. 
And  also  in  that  he  perceived  that  there  was  great 
favour  laid  up  for  those  that  died  godly,  it  was  an  holy 
and  good  thought.     Whereupon  he  made  a  reconcilia- 

^  Wisdom  ii,  23,  24.  ^  2  Mace.  xii.  39-45. 


1 1 8  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

tion  for  the  dead,  that  they  might  be  delivered  from 
sin."  But  here  it  is  evident  that  the  prayers  and 
sacrifices  were  offered  for  the  deHverance  of  the  slain 
from  sin  in  the  far-off  day  of  resurrection,  rather  than 
for  the  immediate  repose  of  their  souls  in  Sheol.  More- 
over, the  Second  Book  of  the  Maccabees  is  of  late  date, 
written  probably  at  the  close  of  the  second  or  early 
in  the  first  century  B.c.^  When  we  turn  to  the  Jewish 
apocryphal  books  ^  written  before  or  soon  after  the 
beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  we  find  that  different 
states  of  disembodied  souls  are  mentioned.  The  wicked 
are  for  the  first  time  represented  as  already  tormented, 
and  the  place  or  state  of  torment  is  named  Gehenna. 
On   the   other   hand,  the  righteous   are   spoken  of  as 

^  The  emphasis  on  the  doctrine  of  the  Resurrection  suggests  sympathy 
with  the  Pharisees.  The  book  is  considered  very  inferior  to  i  Mace. 
See  Grim's  Commentary^  1857,  and  Speaker's  Commentary.  An  attempt 
has  been  made  by  some  Protestant  writers  to  nulHfy  the  argument  in 
favour  of  prayers  for  the  dead  that  is  often  based  upon  this  passage.  It  is 
said  that  the  Egyptian  Jews  were  schismatic  in  their  practices,  and  hence 
the  "opinion  of  the  Egyptian  Jews — when  unsupported  by  other  evidence 
— cannot  be  regarded  as  satisfactory  evidence  in  proof  of  the  doctrine  or 
practices  of  the  Jews  in  Palestine."  See  The  Ititermediate  State,  by  C.  H. 
Wright,  D.D.  As,  however,  it  is  admitted  that  "the  Jews  have  for 
centuries  offered  up  prayers  for  the  dead,"  and  no  sort  of  evidence  is  forth- 
coming to  prove  that  the  Jews  are  mistaken  in  maintaining  that  the 
practice  is  "one  of  the  institutions  handed  down  by  the  Jewish  fathers" 
(p.  150),  all  that  can  be  said  is  that  the  passage  confirms  the  statement 
made  by  the  modern  Jews  as  to  the  antiquity  of  their  prayers  for  the 
departed. 

^  Among  these  Pseudepigraphic  writings  are  :  The  Book  of  Enoch, 
quoted  by  St.  Jude  (verses  14,  15) ;  Sibylline  Oracles  ;  4th  Esdras  ;  Apoca- 
lypse of  Baruch;  the  Targums ;  the  yd  and  /^th  Books  of  Maccabees,  The 
writings  of  Josephus  also  contain  information  as  to  the  prevalent  Jewish 
beliefs. 


Witness  of  Jewish  Tradition  1 1 9 

enjoying  their  reward.  As  there  was  no  dogmatic 
teaching  given  by  the  Synagogue,  we  find  endless 
grotesque  beliefs  and  theories  put  forward  by  different 
Rabbis,  but  the  consent  of  those  who  believed  in  the 
survival  of  the  soul  gathers  around  the  two  divisions 
of  Hades — the  place  of  torment  and  the  place  of  enjoy- 
ment. In  other  words,  Hades  is  the  whole  realm  of 
the  dead,  and  its  two  main  divisions  are  called  Gehenna 
and  Paradise.^  Heaven  was  not  thought  of  as  the  abode 
of  the  disembodied  souls  of  the  righteous :  it  was  re- 
served for  the  Jews  after  the  final  resurrection  of  the 
body. 

The  Book  of  Enoch — the  earlier  part  of  which  dates 
probably  from  the  second  century  before  Christ,  and 
the  remainder  from  the  Christian  era  ^ — has  been  called 
the  "  Divina  Commedia  "  of  Judaism.  In  chapter  xxii. 
of  that  book,  which  resembles  the  Inferno  of  Dante, 
the  seer  is  shown  "  the  castigation  and  torment  of 
those  who  eternally  execrate,  and  whose  souls  are 
punished  and  bound  there  for  ever  and  ever."  The 
Valley  of  Hinnom  and  its  ghastly  associations  were 
ready  to  supply  images  to  the  Jew,  terrible  beyond 
any  that  the  mind  of  heathen  poet  or  philosopher  had 
conceived.  Already  known  as  the  perpetual  abode  of 
corruption  and  fire,  "  the  place  where  lie  the  corpses  of 
those  who  have  transgressed  against  Jehovah,"  of  which 

^  Paradise  was  also  called  Gan  Eden,  and  Abraham's  Bosom. 
^  See  Cambridge  Companion  to  the  Bible  and  Dr.  Edersheim's  Life 
and  Times  of  Jesus  the  Afessiah^  vol.  ii.  p.  653. 


1 20  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

it  was  said,  "  their  worm  shall  not  die,  neither  shall  the 
fire  be  quenched,"  it  had  become  the  symbol  of  utter 
moral  ruin  and  depravity.  But  it  was  the  unknown 
author  of  the  Book  of  Enoch  who  first  saw  it  as  "  the 
accursed  of  the  accursed  for  ever,"  who  first  placed 
in  that  dark  ravine  one  of  the  mouths  of  hell,  and 
thus,  from  the  emblem  of  moral  ruin  attending  sin, 
made  it  the  actual  place  of  punishment  for  sinners.  ^ 
Henceforth  Gehenna  became  known  as  part  of  Hades 
or  Sheol.  The  Book  of  Enoch  declares  that  the 
"accursed  valley  is  for  those  who  are  accursed  to 
eternity :  here  must  all  be  collected  who  speak  un- 
seemly speeches  towards  God,  and  speak  insolently  of 
His  glory :  here  they  are  collected,  and  here  is  the 
place  of  their  punishment,  and  in  the  last  time  there 
shall  the  spectacle  of  a  righteous  judgment  upon  them 
be  given  before  the  righteous  to  eternity  for  evermore."  ^ 
Again,  "  I  saw  then  how  a  deep  was  opened  in  the 
midst  of  the  earth,  full  of  fire,  and  they  brought  thither 
those  blinded  sheep ;  and  they  were  all  judged  and 
found  guilty  and  were  cast  into  that  fiery  pit  and  they 
burned."^  .  .  .  This  torment  is  spoken  of  frequently 
as  that  which  "  lasts  to  eternity,"  *  "  for  ever  and  ever,"  ^ 
"  for  all  eternity,"  ^  "  for  all  generations  into  eternity."  ^ 
In  the  Fourth  Book  of  Esdras — written  about  the 
end  of  the  first  century  after  Christ — we  read,  "  A  lake 
of  fire  shall  appear,  and  over  against  it  a  place  of  rest  : 

^  See  Encyc.  Briii.,  viii.,  p.  536.  ^  Book  of  Enoch,  xxvii. 

^  Ibid.^  xc.        ■*  Ibid.^  xci.        ^  Jbid.y  vi,        ^  Ibid.,  liii.        ''  Ibid.^  ciii. 


Witness  of  Jewish   Tradition  121 

and  the  oven  of  Gehenna  shall  be  shown,  and  over 
against  it  a  Paradise  of  delight  .  .  .  here  is  pleasure 
and  rest,  and  there  fire  and  torments." 

These  passages  are  typical  of  a  multitude  that  might 
be  quoted  to  the  same  effect  from  other  books  already 
mentioned. 

Passing  from  the  apocryphal  writings,  we  may  con- 
clude with  a  reference  to  the  doctrine  of  the  future  life 
put  forward  by  the  two  great  Jewish  schools  of  Shammai 
and  Hillel.  In  their  teaching  we  notice  the  possibility 
both  of  penal  suffering,  of  which  no  end  is  seen,  and 
also  of  purgatorial  pain,  that  is  only  for  a  time.  The 
school  of  Shammai  "  arranged  all  mankind  into  three 
classes :  the  perfectly  righteous,  who  are  '  immediately 
written  and  sealed  to  eternal  life ' ;  the  perfectly  wicked, 
who  are  'immediately  written  and  sealed  to  Gehenna'; 
and  an  intermediate  class,  '  who  go  down  to  Gehinnom, 
and  moan,  and  come  up  again,'  according  to  Zechariah 
xiii.  9,  and  which  seemed  also  indicated  in  certain  words 
on  the  Song  of  Hannah.^  The  careful  reader  will 
notice  that  this  statement  implies  belief  in  Eternal 
Punishment  on  the  part  of  the  School  of  Shammai. 
For  (i)  the  perfectly  wicked  are  spoken  of  as  'written 
and  sealed  unto  Gehenna ' ;  (2)  the  School  of  Shammai 
expresssly  quotes,  in  support  of  what  it  teaches  about 
these  wicked,  Daniel  xii.  2,  a  passage  which  undoubtedly 
refers  to  the  final  Judgment  after  the  Resurrection ; 
(3)  the   perfectly  wicked,   so   punished,   are   expressly 

^  I  Sam.  ii.  6. 


122  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

distinguished  from  the  third,  or  intermediate  class,  who 
merely  '  go  down  to  Gehinnom,'  but  are  not  *  written 
and  sealed,'  and  '  come  up  again.' 

"  Substantially  the  same,  as  regards  Eternity  of 
Punishment,  is  the  view  of  the  School  of  Hillel. 
In  regard  to  sinners  of  Israel  and  of  the  Gentiles  it 
teaches,  indeed,  that  they  are  tormented  in  Gehenna 
for  twelve  months,  after  which  their  bodies  and  souls 
are  burnt  up  and  scattered  as  dust  under  the  feet  of 
the  righteous ;  but  it  significantly  excepts  from  this 
number  certain  classes  of  transgressors  'who  go  down 
to  Gehinnom  and  are  punished  there  to  ages  of  ages.' 
That  the  Niphal  form  of  the  verb  used,  P31"i''3,  must  mean 
*  punished'  and  not  'judged,'  appears,  not  only  from 
the  context,  but  from  the  use  of  the  same  word  and 
form  in  the  same  tractate  (Rosh  haSh,  12  a^  lines  7,  etc., 
from  top),  when  it  is  said  of  the  generation  of  the  Flood 
that  'they  were  punished' — surely  not  'judged' — by 
'hot  water.'  However,  therefore,  the  School  of  Hillel 
might  accentuate  the  mercy  of  God,  or  limit  the  number 
of  those  who  suffer  Eternal  Punishment,  it  did  teach 
Eternal  Punishment  in  the  case  of  some.  And  this  is 
the  point  in  question. 

"  But  since  the  Schools  of  Shammai  and  Hillel  repre- 
sented the  theological  teaching  in  the  time  of  Christ  and 
His  Apostles,  it  follows  that  the  doctrine  of  Eternal 
Punishment  was  that  held  in  the  days  of  our  Lord, 
however  it  may  have  afterwards  been  modified."  ^ 

^  Edersheim's  Life  and  Times  of  Jesus  the  Messiah^  vol.  ii.  789. 


'■  Witness  of  Jeivish  Tradition  123 

That  these  beliefs  were  denied  by  the  Sadducees  is 
quite  true,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  were  the 
belief  of  the  orthodox  Jews  and  of  the  bulk  of  the 
people.  Josephus  says  that  the  Pharisees  "  believe  that 
souls  have  an  immortal  vigour  in  them,  and  that  under 
the  earth  there  will  be  rewards  or  punishments,  accord- 
ing as  men  have  lived  virtuously  or  viciously  in  this  life  ; 
and  that  the  latter  were  to  be  detained  in  an  everlasting 
prison,^  but  that  the  former  have  power  to  revive  and 
live  again  ;  on  account  of  which  doctrines  they  are  able 
greatly  to  persuade  the  body  of  the  people " ;  and  he 
says  that  the  Sadducees  "  when  they  become  magistrates 
.  .  .  addict  themselves  to  the  notions  of  the  Pharisees, 
because  the  multitude  would  not  otherwise  bear  them."^ 

In  his  book  on  "  The  Wars  of  the  Jews,"  Josephus 
further  describes  the  teaching  of  the  Pharisees.  He 
writes :  "  They  say  that  all  souls  are  incorruptible,  but 
that  the  souls  of  good  men  only  are  removed  into  other 
bodies,  and  that  the  souls  of  bad  men  are  subject  to 
eternal  punishment."^  In  writing  of  the  Essenes,  he 
says :  "  Their  doctrine  is  this :  that  bodies  are  cor- 
ruptible, and  that  the  matter  they  are  made  of  is  not 
permanent ;  but  that  the  souls  are  immortal,  and  con- 
tinue for  ever ;    and  that  they  come  out  of  the  most 

^  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  later  Rabbis  from  the  second  century  of  the 
Christian  era  very  generally  denied  the  eternity  of  punishment.  Dr. 
Adler  writes  :  "  With  respect  to  the  Rabbis  of  the  present  day  (nine- 
teenth century),  I  think  it  would  be  safe  to  say  that  they  do  not  teach 
endless  retributive  suffering."  See  Dr.  Edersheim's  Life  and  Times  of 
Jesus  the  Messiah,  p.  790. 

■■^  Antiquities^  xviii.  i,  3,  4.  ^  Book  II.,  chap.  viii.  14. 


124  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

subtile  air,  and  are  united  to  their  bodies  as  to  prisons, 
into  which  they  are  drawn  by  a  certain  natural  entice- 
ment ;  but  that  when  they  are  set  free  from  the  bonds 
of  the  flesh,  they  then,  as  released  from  a  long  bondage, 
rejoice  and  mount  upward.  And  this  is  like  the  opinion 
of  the  Greeks,  that  good  souls  have  their  habitations 
beyond  the  ocean,  in  a  region  that  is  neither  oppressed 
with  storms  of  rain,  or  snow,  or  with  intense  heat ;  but 
that  this  place  is  such  as  is  refreshed  by  the  gentle 
breathing  of  a  west  wind,  that  is  perpetually  blowing 
from  the  ocean  ;  while  they  allot  to  bad  souls  a  dark 
and  tempestuous  den,  full  of  never-ceasing  punishments. 
And  indeed  the  Greeks  seem  to  me  to  have  followed 
the  same  notion,  when  they  allot  the  islands  of  the 
blessed  to  their  brave  men,  whom  they  call  heroes  and 
demi-gods ;  and  to  the  souls  of  the  wicked,  the  region 
of  the  ungodly,  in  Hades,  where  their  fables  relate  that 
certain  persons,  such  as  Sisyphus,  and  Tantalus,  and 
Ixion,  and  Tityus,  are  punished  ;  which  is  built  on  this 
first  supposition,  that  souls  are  immortal ;  and  thence 
are  those  exhortations  to  virtue,  and  dehortations  from 
wickedness,  collected,  whereby  good  men  are  bettered 
in  the  conduct  of  their  life  by  the  hope  they  have  of 
reward  after  their  death,  and  whereby  the  vehement 
inclinations  of  bad  men  to  vice  are  restrained,  by  the 
fear  and  expectation  they  are  in,  that  although  they 
should  lie  concealed  in  this  life,  they  should  suffer , 
immortal  punishment  after  their  death." 

In  the  Talmud  we  read :  "  The  sinners  of  Israel  in 


Witness  of  Jewish   Tradition  125 

their  body,  and  the  sinners  of  the  nations  in  their  body, 
go  down  to  Gehenna  and  are  punished  there  twelve 
months;  after  twelve  months  their  body  is  consumed, 
and  their  soul  burned,  and  the  wind  scattereth  them 
under  the  feet  of  the  righteous." 

There  is  no  mention  here  of  a  temporary  punishment 
in  Gehenna  for  those  who  had  sinned  but  not  hope- 
lessly. In  spite,  however,  of  the  discordant  teaching 
and  inextricable  confusion  of  the  Rabbis  in  matters  of 
detail,  it  is  abundantly  clear  that  such  a  purification  was 
believed  possible  both  by  the  learned  and  by  the  people 
as  a  whole.  Dr.  Edersheim,  writing  of  the  beliefs 
among  the  Jews  at  the  time  of  the  Incarnation,  says : 
"  There  is  a  kind  of  purgation,  if  not  of  purgatory,  after 
death.  Some  even "  of  the  Rabbis  "  have  held  the 
annihilation  of  the  wicked.  Taking  the  widest  and 
most  generous  views  of  the  Rabbis,  they  may  be  thus 
summed  up :  All  Israel  have  a  share  in  the  world  to 
come ;  the  pious  among  the  Gentiles  also  have  part  in 
it.  Only  the  perfectly  just  enter  at  once  into  Paradise ; 
all  the  rest  pass  through  a  period  of  purification  and 
perfection,  variously  lasting,  up  to  one  year.^  But 
notorious  breakers  of  the  law,  and  especially  apostates 
from  the  Jewish  faith,  and  heretics,  have  no  hope  what- 

^  Dr.  Pusey  writes  :  '  *  W^hat  is  of  moment  is,  that  this  period  of  twelve 
months  of  purgatory  for  the  Jew  was  invented  by  Rabbi  Akiba  alone,  and 
received  on  his  authority,  86  years  after  the  Ascension  of  our  Lord,  and 
so  has  no  bearing  on  this  teaching."  It  is  difficult  to  reconcile  this  state- 
ment with  the  fact  that  the  School  of  Hillel  taught  the  twelve  months 
purgatory  followed  by  destruction,  and  Hillel  flourished  about  the  time  of 
Herod  the  Great  and  was  grandfather  of  Gamaliel. 


126  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

ever,  either  here  or  hereafter.  Such  is  the  last  word 
which  the  Synagogue  has  to  say  to  mankind." i 

No  principle  was  more  clearly  established  in  the 
popular  mind  than  that,  through  the  merits  of  Abraham, 
all  Israel  had  a  right  to  the  world  to  come.  Abraham 
was  frequently  represented  as  sitting  at  the  gate  of 
Gehenna  to  deliver  any  Israelite  who  might  otherwise 
have  been  consigned  to  its  terrors.^  We  must  not  forget 
that  according  to  Jewish  belief  the  everlasting  punish- 
ments of  Gehenna  were  seldom  thought  of  as  happening 
to  any  of  the  chosen  people  of  God.  Rather  the  idea 
of  Gehenna  was  that  of  a  place  to  which  the  Lord  God 
would  consign  the  Gentiles,  whereas  the  covenant  of 
circumcision  and  the  merits  of  the  Fathers  would  in  the 
day  of  the  Messiah  liberate  any  Israelite  sinner  from 
that  "accursed  valley."  In  Rabbinic  language  the 
Gentiles  were  the  ''children  of  Gehinnom,"  but  Israelites 
were  the  "  children  of  the  kingdom,"  "  royal  children," 
"children  of  God."  Our  Lord's  reversal  of  their  ex- 
pected position  in  the  Judgment  must  have  indeed  been 
an  outrage  upon  the  Judaism  of  His  hearers ;  for  He 
taught  that  the  "  accursed  children "  should  sit  down 
"with  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,"  but  the  "  children  of  the  kingdom  shall  be 
cast  out  into  outer  darkness  :  there  shall  be  weeping  and 
gnashing  of  teeth." 

In  reference,  then,  to  Jewish  belief  about  that  part  of 

^  Sketches  of  Jewish  Social  Life  in  the  Days  of  Christ,  p.  i8o. 
^  Dr.  Edersheim  gives  numerous  references  in  proof  of  this  belief. 


Witness  of  Jewish   Tradition  127 

Hades  known  as  Gehenna,  we  find  it  was  supposed  to 
be  a  place  of  torment,  into  which  all  sinners  were  cast, 
but  whence  all  but  a  few  of  the  worst  Israelites  were 
eventually  delivered.  Those  who  were  not  delivered 
remained  there  "  for  ever  and  ever  "  ;  some  were  punished 
and  then  annihilated. 

As  to  the  question  of  prayer  for  the  dead  among  the 
Jews  at  the  time  of  the  Incarnation,  there  can  be  no 
reasonable  doubt  that  it  was  an  accepted  practice, 
though,  like  almost  every  other  practice,  it  was  not 
universal ;  the  passage  already  quoted  from  the  Second 
Book  of  Maccabees  is  but  one  proof  of  the  prevalence 
of  the  custom.  Professor  Plumptre  writes  :  "  There  is 
no  room  to  doubt  that  they  (the  Jews)  looked  on  the 
state  of  the  dead  as  one  capable  of  being  influenced  for 
good  by  the  prayers  of  the  living.  Prayers  for  the  dead 
were  an  established  part  of  the  ritual  of  the  Synagogue 
at  the  time  of  the  Maccabees ;  and,  in  that  of  the 
temple,  sacrifices  were  added  to  the  prayers."  ^  And 
again,  "there  can  scarcely  be  a  shadow  of  doubt  that 
such  prayers  (for  the  dead)  were  offered  in  every 
synagogue,  or  repeated  by  mourning  kinsmen  to  whom 
the  duty  of  right  belonged,  during  the  whole  period 
covered  by  the  Gospels  and  the  Acts.  The  inscriptions 
in  the  Jewish  cemeteries  at  Rome,  with  their  brief 
supplications  for  peace,  tell  the  same  tale ;  as  also  do 
those   from    a    Jewish    cemetery   in    the    Crimea,^   the 

^  Spirits  m  Prison.     E.  H.  Plumptre,  D.D.,  pp.  127-8. 

^  Later  research  makes  the  dates  of  the  inscriptions  very  doubtful.  The 
Crimean  inscriptions  cannot  be  relied  upon  as  certainly  genuine  inscriptions 
of  the  first  three  centuries. 


128  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

inscriptions  in  both  cases  being  of  the  first  or  second 
centuries  after  Christ.  .  .  .  According  to  the  rules  of  the 
Rabbis  it  was  the  duty  of  the  son  or  next  of  kin  to 
say  the  Kaddisch,  or  prayer  for  the  soul  of  the  deceased, 
for  eleven  months  after  his  death,  the  limit  of  time 
being  clearly  connected  with  the  thought  of  the  twelve 
months  of  corrective  punishment  in  Gehenna,  as  taught 
by  Hillel  and  Shammai  and  Akiba."^  The  later  doctrine 
of  Akiba  is  probably  a  development  rather  than  an 
explanation  of  the  teaching  of  Hillel.^  He  represents 
the  righteous  interceding  for  those  whose  twelve 
months  of  purgatory  is  complete :  "  Forthwith  the 
righteous  go  and  stand  on  the  dust  of  the  wicked 
and  pray  for  mercy  upon  them,  and  God  maketh  them 
stand  upon  their  feet  from  the  dust,  from  beneath  the 
soles  of  the  feet  of  the  righteous,  and  bringeth  them  to 
the  life  of  the  world  to  come."  Therefore  it  is  said, 
"  And  ye  shall  tread  down  the  wicked,  for  they  shall  be 
dust  under  the  soles  of  your  feet";^  words  that  recall 
those  of  the  Psalmist :  "  They  [men]  are  appointed  as  a 
flock  for  Sheol ;  death  shall  be  their  shepherd  :  and  the 
upright  shall  have  dominion  over  them  in  the  morning."^ 
The  above  passage  from  Rabbi  Akiba  seems  to  imply 
that  there  is  a  resurrection  for  the  individual  Jew  twelve 
months  after  his  death,  but  it  is  an  impossible  task  to 
reconcile  the  contradictory  teachings  of  the  later  Rabbis. 
There  can,  however,  be  no  doubt  that  prayer  for  the 

1  spirits  in  Prison.     E.  H.  Plumptre,  D.D.,  pp.  127-8. 
"  See  p.  125.  ^  Mai.  iv.  3.  •*  Psalm  xlix.  14. 


Wihtess  of  Jewish   Tradition  129 

dead  was  offered  by  the  Jews,  at  any  rate,  just  before 
the  time  of  the  Incarnation,  and  has  continued  to  be 
offered  from  that  time  down  to  the  present  day.  Such 
prayers  were,  it  may  be  well  to  state,  never  offered  for 
the  souls  in  Paradise,  but  for  those  in  the  torments  of 
Gehenna,  that  they  may  attain  to  the  society  of  the 
Blessed  in  Paradise.  In  the  usage  of  modern  Judaism 
we  find  this  prayer :  "  May  God  in  His  mercy  remember 
M.  or  N.,  for  the  welfare  of  whose  soul  I  this  day  offer 

{sum  of  money ^  to  be  vested  in  works  of  mercy). 

May  his  soul  be  united  in  eternal  life  with  the  souls  of 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  Sarah,  Rebecca,  Rachel, 
Leah,  and  other  holy  men  and  women  in  the  Garden  of 
Eden."i 

That  this  practice  among  the  Jews  dates  back  to  a 
time  beyond  the  Christian  era  is  certain.  It  is  also  most 
improbable  that  the  Jews  would  have  borrowed  the 
custom  from  the  Christian  Church,  and — as  we  shall 
see — there  is  no  doubt  that  prayer  for  the  dead  pre- 
vailed in  the  Church  from  the  first  centuries.  As 
Dr.  Plumptre  says :  "  The  inference  is  accordingly 
natural  and  legitimate  that  prayers  for  the  dead,  which 
we  find  in  both  (in  Judaism  and  the  Christian  Church), 
were  derived  from  an  earlier  source,  prior  to  the  time 
of  the  separation,  i.e.^  from  the  earlier  traditions  of  the 
Jewish  Church,  which  passed  without  question  and 
without  blame  into  those  of  the  Christian.  How  far 
these  traditions  went  back  we  cannot  determine.     The 

^  McCaul,  Old  Paths,  p.  408. 


130  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

Maccabean  history  gives  us  one  fixed  date  with 
certainty,  but  the  practice  may  have  existed  much 
earher,  probably  after  and  during  the  Captivity."^  It 
is  highly  probable  that,  as  contact  with  Greek  thought 
in  Alexandria  and  elsewhere  gave  to  the  Jews  a  more 
clear  conception  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  so 
also  to  Gentile  influence  was  due  the  legitimate 
expression  of  this  belief  in  prayer  for  the  souls  of  the 
departed.  Faith  leads  to  hope,  and  love  expresses  in 
prayer  the  hope  that  faith  inspires.  The  Jewish  belief 
as  to  the  condition  of  the  "perfectly  righteous"  and 
those  who  had  been  purified  In  Gehenna,  was  also 
evidently  the  result  of  Gentile  influence.  The  Inspired 
records  of  the  Old  Testament  revealed  nothing  more 
than  that  all  souls  were  committed  to  Sheol  —  the 
unseen  nether  world.  But  no  sooner  do  we  pass  from 
the  Old  Testament  to  the  New  than  we  find  a  very 
marked  separation  between  the  souls  of  the  Imperfect 
and  the  souls  of  the  "righteous" — and  that  too  before 
the  resurrection,  and  Immediately  after  death.  The 
Targums  and  the  Talmud  teach  that  both  Paradise  ^ 
and  Gehenna  were  created  before  the  world.  One 
quotation  from  the  Jerusalem  Targum  (on  Gen.  iv.  24) 
will  be  sufficient :  "  Two  thousand  years,"  we  read, 
"  before  the  world  was  made,  God  created  the  Law, 
and  Gehenna,  and  the  Garden  of  Eden.  He  made 
the  Garden  of  Eden  for  the  righteous,  that  they  might 

^  spirits  in  Prison,  p  269. 

2  The  adoption  of  the  word  "Paradise"  was  probably  due  to  Persian 
influence. 


Witness  of  Jewish   Tradition  131 

eat  of  the  fruits  thereof,  and  delight  themselves  in 
them,  because  in  this  world  they  had  kept  the  com- 
mandments of  the  Law.  But  for  the  wicked  He 
prepared  Gehenna,  which  is  like  a  sharp  two-edged 
destroying  sword.  He  put  within  it  sparks  of  fire  and 
burning  coals,  to  punish  the  wicked  in  the  world  to 
come,  because  they  had  not  observed  the  command- 
ments of  the  Law  in  this  world.  For  the  Law  is  the 
tree  of  life.  Whosoever  observeth  it  shall  live  and 
subsist  as  the  tree  of  life."^ 

Paradise  and  Gehenna  were  supposed  to  be  con- 
tiguous, only  separated,  it  was  said,  and  perhaps 
allegorically,  by  a  handbreadth.  When  we  compare 
these  Jewish  beliefs  with  those  already  referred  to^ 
that  were  taught  by  Socrates,  Plato,  and  others  among 
the  Greeks  and  Latins,  we  find  that  they  are  almost 
identical.  The  Greek  Tartarus  is  the  same  as  the 
Jewish  Gehenna,  and  in  both  it  was  thought  some 
were  "eternally"^  and  others  temporarily  punished. 
The  Islands  of  the  Blest  were— as  Josephus  remarks 
— the  Greek  idea  from  which  the  Jew  borrowed  his 
picture  of  Gan  Eden,  or  Paradise.  To  the  Greek  the 
society  of  the  heroes  formed  one  of  the  delights  of 
those  Elysian  fields,  and  to  the  Jew  also  the  hope  was 
to  be  with   Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  the  heroes — 

^  For  Josephus'  account  of  the  belief  of  the  Essenes  as  to  the  lot  of  the 
righteous,  see  p.  123. 

^  Chap.  vi. 

^  Virgil's  words  come  to  mind  where  he  says :  '*  Sedet  oeternumque 
sedebit  infelix  Theseus"  {yEneid,   vi.  617). 


I"; 2  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 


o 


almost  the  demi-gods — of  his  people.  We  have  then 
here  in  Jewish  tradition  at  the  time  of  our  Lord  three 
conditions  (only  two  places)  after  death,  two  permanent 
— Gehenna  and  Paradise — and  the  other  a  temporary 
state  of  purgation.  There  were  many  theories  current, 
but  it  seems  beyond  question,  from  a  consideration 
of  various  authorities,  that  the  Jews  of  our  Lord's  time 
were  quite  familiar  with  the  idea  of  eternal  happiness 
and  eternal  punishment,  and  of  a  punishment  which 
for  some  would  end  in  annihilation,  and  for  others  in 
a  restoration,  towards  which  they  were  helped  by  the 
prayers  of  those  living  on  earth.^ 

And  what  is  the  value  of  this  Jewish  tradition  ? 
Why  should  we  concern  ourselves  with  it?  The 
answer  is  that  the  theories  and  speculations  that  were 
prevalent  among  the  Jews  at  the  time  of  the  ministry 
of  our  Lord  are  of  the  greatest  use  in  determining  the 
sense  in  which  our  Lord's  teaching  would  be  under- 
stood. Just  in  so  far  as  our  Lord  and  His  Apostles 
accepted  this  tradition  it  is  to  be  reckoned  as  represent- 
ing the  truth.  For  this  reason  we  do  well  to  study  it, 
for  without  it  we  cannot  arrive  at  the  meaning  of  our 
Lord's  words,  and  without  it  we  shall  also  find  it 
difficult  to  interpret  the  later  beliefs  that  prevailed  and 
to  some  extent  are  still  held  in  the  Christian  Church. 

^  For  a  more  full  discussion  of  this  subject,  see  Dr.  Pusey's  What  is 
of  Faith  as  to  Everlasting  Punishment ;  Farrar's  Mercy  and  Judgment ; 
Edersheim's  Life  and  Times  of  Jesus,  vol.  ii.,  App.  xix.,  pp.  788-93. 


VIII. 

Mitue60  of  tbe  mew  ^eetanient 

(IbaDee-Gebenna) 


MYSTERY   OF   MYSTERIES. 

"  Who  sins,  shall  die  ;  who  dies,  shall  suffer  pain. 
Dire  trinity  of  anguish,  death  and  guilt. 
On  whose  inscrutable  foundations  built 
The  riddle  of  creation  racks  man's  brain  ! 
Probe  as  we  will,  with  firm  persistent  strain 
Plunging  thought's  rapier-blade  from  point  to  hilt 
Till  the  last  heart's  drop  of  the  world  be  spilt. 
Deep  at  the  roots  of  life  these  three  remain. 
Sin,  Death  and  Suffering  !  Mystery  triune, 
Whereof  the  name  is  legion  !     Multiform 
Symptom  of  irremovable  disease  ! 
Discord  that  jars  upon  the  sphery  tune 
Sung  in  the  ears  of  seraphs  !     Sunless  storm 
Troubling  the  depth  of  God's  refulgent  ease  ! " 

J.  A.  Symonds. 


VIII. 

Mttness  of  tbe  Bew  XTestament— Ibabes 

IN  the  preceding  chapter  we  have  seen  what  was  the 
popular  conception  among  the  Jews  as  to  the  future 
Hfe,  at  the  time  of  our  Lord's  ministry.  The  vague 
hopes  and  beliefs  that  are  found  here  and  there  in 
the  Old  Testament  had  in  the  three  centuries  that 
intervened  between  the  close  of  the  Old  Testament 
and  the  Incarnation  taken  a  definite  form,  and  were 
associated  with  certain  well-understood  terms.  Our 
Lord  did  not  come  to  destroy  but  to  purify  and  amend 
the  doctrine  of  the  Jewish  Church,  and  to  reveal  truths 
that  had  hitherto  been  altogether  concealed.  Con- 
sequently we  find  that  a  large  portion  of  the  system 
of  the  Jewish  and  Rabbinical  schools  was  incorporated 
in  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  although  He 
occasionally  denounced  the  corrupt  glosses  on  the 
divine  Law  introduced  by  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees, 
yet  on  the  whole  our  Lord  gave  His  approval  to  their 
teaching  :  "  The  Scribes  and  the  Pharisees  sit  in  Moses' 
seat :  all  therefore  whatsoever  they  bid  you  observe, 
that  observe  and  do  .  .  ."  ^ 

1  St.  Matt,  xxiii.  2,  3. 
135 


136  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

Bearing  this  fact  in  mind,  we  not  only  may,  but 
must,  keep  before  us  what  was  the  belief  as  to  the 
future  life  already  in  the  mind  of  those  whom  our  Lord 
addressed. 

If  the  traditions  of  the  Jews  on  this  subject  had  been 
entirely  or  even  largely  mistaken,  the  first  duty  of  an 
enlightened  teacher  would  be  to  avoid  adopting  the 
terminology  associated  with  this  erroneous  teaching, 
and  in  its  place  very  plainly  to  set  forth  the  truth  as  far 
as  it  could  be  expressed  in  human  language. 

When  therefore  we  find  that  our  Lord  not  only  did 
not  reject  the  traditional  language  of  the  Gentile  and 
the  Jew  as  to  the  future  state,  but  on  the  contrary 
accepted  and  used  it  in  many  of  the  most  solemn 
warnings  He  addressed  to  His  disciples,  we  can  only 
conclude  that  in  the  main  the  Gentile  and  the  Jew  had 
come  very  near  to  the  truth. 

And  yet,  when  we  speak  of  "  the  truth,"  we  must  not 
forget  that  it  is  quite  possible,  and  indeed  very  probable, 
that  all  the  language  used  in  Holy  Scripture  as  to  the 
mysteries  of  the  spiritual  world  is  highly  symbolical, 
and  by  no  means  to  be  subjected  to  a  rigorously  literal 
interpretation.  The  important  point  is  this,  that  such 
language  has  been  divinely  approved  of  as  most  suited 
to  convey  to  our  minds  ideas  that  are  the  "  figures  of 
the  true."  ^  We,  who  can  form  no  mental  picture  of  a 
spiritual  world,  must  be  content  dimly  to  shadow  forth 
the  "  invisible  things "  of  God  through  the  instrument- 

^  Heb.  ix.  24.     avriTVTTo.  tQjv  cLK-qdivQiv — exeviplaria^  Vulgate. 


Witness  of  the  New  Testainent —  Hades     137 

ality  of  "the  things  that  are  made."^  Symbols  are  used 
by  God  to  lift  up  our  imagination  and  to  bring  before 
our  thoughts  certain  ideas ;  they  are,  however,  but  "  the 
copies  of  things  in  the  heavens,"  ^  and  of  things  that  are 
beneath  in  the  realm  of  the  shadow  of  death,  not  the 
very  "  things  themselves." 

It  is  beyond  our  power  to  imagine  how  the  omni- 
present Deity  can  be  said  to  be  localised,  but  in  the 
language  of  Holy  Writ — as  well  in  the  New  Testament 
as  in  the  Old — Heaven  is  spoken  of  as  the  place  where 
the  divine  glory  of  the  illimitable  Deity  is  sensibly 
manifested. 

This  language  cannot  be  explained  away  as  wholly 
metaphorical.  St.  Stephen  confessed  that  "the  Most 
High  dwelleth  not  in  temples  made  with  hands,"  ^  but 
he  added  the  words  from  Isaiah :  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord, 
The  heaven  is  My  throne."  ^ 

Heaven  is  so  often  spoken  of  as  "  the  throne  of  God," 
that  while  no  doubt  there  is  in  such  language  an  element 
of  metaphor,  there  is  also  a  sense  in  which  the  words 
are  true.  The  Old  Testament  continually  asserts  or 
takes  for  granted  that  Heaven  is  the  dwelling-place 
of  God,  and  this  truth  was  emphasised  by  the  words 
of  our  Lord.  He  speaks  again  and  again  of  "My 
Father  which  is  in  heaven,"  and  when  He  taught  His 
disciples  to  pray  He  bade  them  say,  "  Our  Father  which 
art  in  heaven." 

^   Rom.  i.  20.  2  Heb.  ix.  23.      vTroSeiy/xaTa. 

^  Acts  vii.  48.  ^  Isa.  Ixvi.  i. 


^\  B  R  A  .'?p 
OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 


138  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

We  can  only  conclude  therefore  that  there  is  a  place 
which  may  be  properly  called  the  abode  of  Him  Whom 
"  the  heaven  of  heavens  cannot  contain."  From  this 
Heaven  our  Lord  said  that  he  Had  come,  and  He  spoke 
of  Heaven — as  it  is  invariably  spoken  of  in  the  Old 
Testament — as  a  region  above  us :  "  No  man  hath 
ascended  up  to  heaven,  but  He  that  came  down  from 
heaven,  even  the  Son  of  Man,  which  is  in  heaven  " ;  and 
again,  "  I  came  down  from  heaven,  not  to  do  Mine  own 
will,  but  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  Me."^  Therefore 
the  Church  has  from  the  first  asserted  in  her  creed 
not  only  that  the  Eternal  Son  "came  down  from 
heaven,"  but  also  that  "  He  ascended  into  heaven." 

In  speaking  of  Heaven,  then,  as  the  abode  of  God 
and  of  the  holy  angels,  our  Lord  used  well-understood 
language.  What  was  new  to  the  Jews  was  His  claim  to 
have  come  down  from  Heaven,  and  His  continual  refer- 
ence to  it  as  the  future  home  which  in  some  special 
way  He  was  to  open  to  all  who  believed  in  Him.  It  is 
not  very  clear  how  far  the  Jews  thought  of  Heaven  as 
the  destiny  of  those  who  attained  to  the  resurrection  of 
the  just,  but  even  as  our  Lord  taught  His  disciples  to 
look  upon  God  rather  than  Abraham  as  their  Father,  so 
He  also  taught  them  to  think  of  Heaven  as  their  home 
rather  than  Abraham's  bosom.  He  asserted  that  those 
who  attained  to  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  "neither 

^  St.  John  iii.  13,  vi.  38.  See  also  2  Cor.  xii.  2  ;  Rev.  iv.  I,  xxi.  2  ; 
and  as  an  abode  from  which  those  who  approach  the  earth  descend,  St.  Luke 
X.  18 ;  St.  John  i.  33  ;  i  Peter  i.  12. 


Witness  of  the  New  Testament — Hades     139 

marry,  nor  are  given  in  marriage,  but  are  as  the  angels 
of  God  in  heaven";^  and  when  the  thought  of  His 
approaching  departure  made  the  disciples  sad,  our  Lord 
consoled  them  with  a  promise  that  the  separation  should 
not  be  final :  "  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled.  ...  In 
My  Father's  house  are  many  mansions :  if  it  were  not 
so,  I  would  have  told  you.  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for 
you  ...  I  will  come  again,  and  receive  you  unto  Myself; 
that  where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also.  And  whither  I 
go  ye  know,  and  the  way  ye  know."  ^ 

In  this  promise  the  words,  "  If  it  were  not  so  I 
would  have  told  you,"  are  often  overlooked ;  and  yet 
they  are  surely  important  words.  Our  Lord  had  told 
His  disciples  that  He  must  return  to  Heaven ;  and 
they,  not  knowing  that  there  were  many  mansions  in 
the  Father's  house,  and  that  they  would  there  be  re- 
united with  their  beloved  Master,  were  filled  with  grief 
at  the  thought  of  losing  Him  for  ever.  To  console 
them  our  Lord  replies  that  He  would  have  told  them 
plainly  if  such  a  separation  had  been  involved  in  His 
departure,  but  so  far  from  this  being  the  case.  He  is 
going  away  to  "prepare  a  place"  for  those  whom  He 
must  for  a  while  leave  behind  Him  on  earth. 

When  we  turn  from  the  language  used  in  the  New 
Testament  about  Heaven  to  consider  what  it  says  of 
the  other  regions  of  the  unseen  world,  there  is  more 
difficulty,  owing  to  the  fact  that  in  the  English  Bible 

^  St.  Matt.  xxii.  30.  '  St.  John  xiv.  1-4. 


140  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

the  one  word  "  hell "  stands  for  three  different  Greek 
words — Hades,  Gehenna,  and  Tartarus.  ^ 

It  is  most  necessary,  however,  to  distinguish  between 
the  words  Hades  and  Gehenna.  Hades  is  the  whole 
nether  world,  and  is  the  exact  equivalent  to  the  word 
Sheol  in  the  Old  Testament.  In  the  Gospel  we  find 
that  our  Lord  accepted  the  belief  already  familiar  to 
the  Jews,  owing  to  their  association  with  Greek  thought 
— that  in  Hades  some  souls  are  punished  and  some  are 
comforted. 

A  careful  study  of  the  passages  in  which  the  Evangel- 
ists have  recorded  our  Lord's  words,  seems  to  point 
to  the  conclusion  that  when  the  word  Gehenna  is  used 
we  are  meant  to  understand  a  place  of  severe  punish- 
ment from  which  there  may  be  no  release ;  while,  on  the 
contrary,  in  every  instance  where  our  Lord  speaks  of 
Hades,  His  teaching  is  consistent  with  the  thought 
of  a  place  or  state  of  the  dead  in  which  there  may 

^  "At5?7s,  in  the  classics,  is  both  the  god  of  the  nether  world,  and  his 
kingdom  ;  hence  (in  the  latter  sense)  the  kingdom  of  the  dead  both 
righteous  and  wicked. 

Te^wa,  "the  Greek  form  of  the  Hebrew  word  Gehenna,  the  valley 
of  Hinnom,  south  of  Jerusalem,  once  celebrated  for  the  horrid  worship 
of  Moloch,  and  afterwards  polluted  with  every  species  of  filth,  as  well 
as  carcases  of  animals  and  dead  bodies  of  malefactors ;  to  consume  which, 
in  order  to  avert  the  pestilence  which  such  a  mass  of  corruption  would 
occasion,  constant  fires  were  kept  burning ;  hence  the  word  came  to  mean 
hell,  the  fires  of  Tartarus,  the  place  of  punishment  in  Hades." — See 
Greek  Lex.  to  New  Test.,  by  W.  Greenfield. 

Tdprapos,  "a  dark  abyss,  as  deep  below  Hades  as  earth  below  heaven. 
Later,  Tartarus  was  either  the  netherworld  generally,  or  a  place  of  torment 
and  punishment,  as  opposed  to  the  Elysian  fields." — Liddell  and  Scott'' s 
Greek  Lex. 


Witness  of  the  New  Testament — Hades     141 

be  suffering,  but  the  idea  of  finality  is  wanting.  We 
can  note  this  best  by  a  few  references  to  the  sacred 
Text.  When  our  Lord,  in  upbraiding  the  unfaithful- 
ness of  Capernaum,  said,  "  And  thou,  Capernaum,  which 
art  exalted  unto  heaven,  shalt  be  brought  down  to  hell 
(Hades),"  ^  we  do  not,  of  course,  suppose  that  He  meant 
either  that  Capernaum  had  been  literally  "  exalted  unto 
heaven,"  or  would  be  "  brought  down  to  Hades."  He 
employs  a  figure  of  speech  to  signify  the  utter  over- 
throw of  the  city — its  fall  shall  be  as  marked  as  the 
transition  from  the  fulness  of  life  to  the  nothingness 
of  death.  If  our  Lord  had  said  that  Capernaum  should 
be  brought  down  to  Gehenna,  the  idea  conveyed  would 
have  been  not  so  much  of  overthrow  as  of  exemplary 
punishment  and  terrible  suffering. 

Again,  in  speaking  of  the  foundation  of  His  Church, 
our  Lord  declared  that  "  the  gates  of  hell  {i.e.  Hades) 
shall  not  prevail  against  it."  ^  It  is  not  easy  to  say 
exactly  what  these  words  mean.  They  probably  signify 
that  all  the  powers  of  evil — of  which  death  is  a  symbol 
— shall  fail  to  destroy  the  life  of  the  Church.  Among 
these  hostile  forces  are  heresies,  and  all  that  belongs  to 
spiritual  decay  and  death,  as  v/ell  as  the  opposing  force 
of  those  beings  who  belong  to  that  portion  of  the  spirit 
world  which  is  arrayed  against  God.     The  city  of  God 


^  St.  Matt.  xi.  23. 

'^  St.  Matt.  xvi.  18.  See  Job  xxxviii.  17,  Ps.  ix.  13,  Isa.  xxxviii.  10. 
In  the  last  reference  we  have  ^v  tijXuis  d5ov,  "the  gates  of  hell,"  i.e. 
Hades,  Sheol,  but  in  the  others  the  gates  of  death,  irOXai  daudrov. 


142  The  Soitl  in  the  Unseen  World 

is  ceaselessly  attacked  by  the  city  of  darkness,  but  is 
never  conquered,  never  entirely  overthrown. 

Now  here,  again,  if  our  Lord  had  said  that  the  "  gates 
of  Gehenna,"  instead  of  the  "gates  of  Hades,"  should 
not  prevail  against  the  Church,  the  idea  would  have  been 
limited  to  one  department  of  the  nether  world,  instead 
of  including  the  whole  power  of  death  that  is  both 
personified  ^  and  localised  by  the  word  "  Hades."  We 
must  remember  that  not  only  the  power  of  death,  as 
represented  by  the  evil  spirits  and  souls  of  the  wicked, 
is  spoken  of  in  Holy  Writ  as  opposed  to  God,  but 
Death  itself  is  "  the  last  enemy "  that  shall  be  "  des- 
troyed." 2  Death  is  looked  upon  as  the  type  of  sin, 
and  as  such  it  stands  out  in  Holy  Scripture  as  the 
symbol  of  all  that  is  contrary  to  the  mind  of  God. 
"  God,"  says  the  writer  of  the  Book  of  "  The  Wisdom 
of  Solomon,"  "created  man  to  be  immortal,  and  made 
him  to  be  an  image  of  His  own  eternity.  Nevertheless 
through  envy  of  the  devil  came  death  into  the  world : 
and  they  that  do  hold  of  his  side  do  find  it."  Once 
more,  it  was  in  Hades  that  the  rich  man  "  lift  up  his 
eyes,  being  in  torments."    These  words  certainly  witness 

^  See  note  p.  140.  Hades  kept  the  gates  of  his  kingdom  closed  (and 
was  therefore  called  by  the  Greeks  TrvXdpTrjs — "he  that  keeps  the  gates  of 
hell " — lest  any  of  the  shades  should  escape  or  return  to  earth.  (//.  viii. 
367;  Pans.  V.  20.)  "The  gates"  represented  the  whole  armed  popu- 
lation of  the  city  who  passed  out  through  them  to  battle ;  they  also 
symbolised  the  councils  of  war,  etc.,  held  at  the  gates  of  a  city.  Our 
Lord's  promise  included  the  assurance  that  neither  secret  plots  nor  open 
violence  should  prevail  against  His  Church. 

2  I  Cor.  XV.  26. 


Witness  of  the  New  Testament — Hades     143 

to  the  fact  that  our  Lord  recognised  that  in  Hades  there 
was  a  state  of  punishment,  but  that  Hades  itself  was 
not  entirely  such  a  penal  abode  is  made  clear  by  the 
fact  that  He  Himself  "  descended  into  Hades,"  and  yet 
He  went  not  into  the  place  of  punishment  therein,  but 
into  the  part  of  Hades  that  He  called  Paradise. 

Thus  St.  Peter,  speaking  on  the  Day  of  Pentecost, 
quoted  the  passage  in  the  Psalms,  "  Thou  shalt  not 
leave  My  soul  in  Hades,"  and  went  on  to  explain  that 
the  psalmist,  "  seeing  this  before,  spake  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ,  that  His  soul  was  not  left  in  hell 
(Hades)."  The  fact  that  in  the  New  Testament  the 
very  same  word — Hades — is  used  for  the  place  in 
which  the  rich  man  "  lift  up  his  eyes,  being  in  tor- 
ments," and  for  the  place  to  which  the  spirit  of  our 
Lord  descended  at  His  death,  is  a  proof  that  Hades 
is  the  whole  nether  world,  and  contained  before  the 
resurrection  of  our  Lord  not  only  a  state  of  suffering, 
but  also  a  state  of  rest.  No  one  now  supposes  that 
the  human  soul  of  Jesus  Christ  passed  from  the  cross 
to  a  state  of  torment.  Such  an  idea  would  be  not 
only  entirely  unwarranted  by  the  words  of  the  New 
Testament,  but  also  in  the  highest  degree  offensive  to 
Christian  belief  The  rich  man  and  Lazarus  were  each 
alike  in  Hades,  but  the  one  was  tormented  in  that  part 
of  Hades  called  Gehenna,  and  the  other  comforted  in 
that  part  of  Hades  known  as  Abraham's  Bosom,  Gan 
Eden,  and  Paradise. 

We  have  seen  that  the  Jews  thought  of  that  part  of 


144  ^'^^  So2tl  in  the  Unseen  World 

Hades  called  Gehenna  as  a  state  of  punishment,  and 
our  Lord  certainly  sanctioned  their  belief  and  even 
added  to  the  terrors  symbolised  by  the  word.  He 
speaks  of  the  wicked  as  going  into  "  Gehenna,"  into 
"  the  fire  that  never  shall  be  quenched,"  "  where  their 
worm  dieth  not  and  the  fire  is  not  quenched,"  and  no 
less  than  five  times  in  a  few  verses  He  repeats  the 
terrible  threat  of  suffering  in  "  the  fire  that  never  shall 
be  quenched."!  It  is  true  that  our  Lord  does  not  say 
that  those  who  go  into  this  fire  shall  for  ever  remain 
conscious  in  it.  The  fire  certainly  remains  unquenched, 
but  whether  or  no  there  may  be  deliverance  from  it 
is  another  question.  There  can  be,  however,  no  question 
at  all  that  our  Lord  most  emphatically  dwelt  upon  the 
existence  of  a  state  of  punishment,  and  that  He  spoke 
of  it  as  "the  Gehenna  of  fire."^  If  the  souls  that  fall 
into  Gehenna  abide  there  everlastingly,  then  in  Gehenna 
we  have  the  "  hell  of  the  lost "  such  as  almost  all  Christ- 
endom has  believed  in ;  if,  on  the  contrary,  the  souls  in 
Gehenna  are  only  there  for  a  time,  then  the  Gehenna  of 
the  Gospels  is  nothing  else  than  a  Purgatory  as  terrible 
as  any  that  the  imagination  has  ever  pictured.  There 
remains,  however,  the  possibility  that  some  souls  might 
be  temporarily  punished  and  perfected  in  Gehenna, 
while  others  may  remain  there  for  ever.  We  have 
already  seen  that  the  Gentiles  were  accustomed  to  think 
of  Tartarus  in  this  twofold  aspect — as  a  place  of  appar- 
ently endless  torment,  and    as  a   Purgatory — and   the 

^  St.  Mark  ix.  43-46.  ^  St.  Matt,  xviii.  9. 


Witness  of  the  Neiv  Testament — Hades     145 

Jews  had  in  a  measure  assimilated  this  doctrine.  One 
proof  of  this  acceptance  of  pagan  terminology  may  be 
found  in  St.  Peter's  use  of  the  word  "  Tartarus  "  which 
(like  Hades  and  Gehenna)  is  translated  "  Hell "  in  our 
English  Bible.  He  writes  :  "  God  spared  not  the  angels 
that  sinned,  but  cast  them  down  to  Tartarus,^  and 
delivered  them  into  chains  of  darkness,  to  be  reserved 
unto  judgment."  The  Jewish  idea  of  Gehenna  was 
almost  identical  with  that  of  Tartarus  in  ancient  Greece. 
The  question  is  whether  or  not  our  Lord,  in  accepting 
the  general  idea  of  Gehenna,  accepted  also  the  belief 
that  for  some  souls,  if  not  for  all,  the  punishment  there 
was  but  temporary.  If  no  such  belief  had  been  known 
to  the  Jews,  we  could  not  suppose  our  Lord  taught  it, 
unless  His  language  was  so  plain  that  there  could  be  no 
mistake  as  to  His  meaning ;  but,  knowing  as  we  do  that 
this  belief  formed  a  part  of  the  Jewish  and  Gentile 
doctrine,  we  are  surely  justified  in  supposing  that  our 
Lord  sanctioned  it,  if  we  find  His  language  consistent 
with  such  an  interpretation.  Unquestionably  no  such 
teaching  is  prominent  in  our  Lord's  ministry,  nor  in  any 
of  the  New  Testament  writings.  But  this  is  not  suffi- 
cient proof  that  such  belief  is  erroneous.  Our  Lord 
by  no  means  passed  over  corrupt  traditions  of  His 
people.  His  language  on  fasting,  prayer,  and  alms- 
giving, severely  censured  popular  abuses.  His  reference 
to  other  corruptions,  such  as  the  "  corban,"  the  buying 
and  selling  in  the  temple,  and  the  "  washing  "  of  vessels, 

^  2  St.  Peter  ii.  4,  raprapujaas. 


146  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen    World 

leaves  us  in  no  doubt  whatever  that  our  Lord  con- 
demned what  He  did  not  approve  in  the  traditions  of 
Israel.  It  is,  then,  remarkable  that  we  have  not  a  word 
of  censure  for  the  tradition  that  some  sins  are  only 
temporarily  punished  in  the  world  to  come.  But  this 
is  not  all.  To  the  Jewish  people  our  Lord's  words,  on 
more  than  one  occasion,  must  have  been  a  strong  con- 
firmation of  their  belief  When  He  spoke  of  a  prison 
whence  none  should  go  out  until  the  uttermost  farthing 
had  been  paid,^  it  is  all  but  certain  that  He  intended  to 
imply  the  sum  could  never  be  forthcoming.  On  the 
contrary,  when  He  spoke  of  all  sins,  except  blasphemy 
against  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  pardonable  either  here  or  . 
hereafter,^  He  certainly  confirmed  those  who  heard 
Him  in  their  belief  that  some  sins  were  forgiven  after 
death.  Again,  He  spoke  of  the  servant  who  knew  not 
his  Lord's  will,  and  how  he  should  be  beaten  with  but 
few  stripes.^  This  teaching  pointed  out  our  Lord's 
acceptance  rather  than  His  rejection  of  the  Jewish  and 
Gentile  belief  that  some  souls  might  fall  into  Tartarus 
or  Gehenna,  and,  after  a  "  few  stripes,"  pass  upward. 
This  probability  becomes  almost  a  certainty  when  we 
find  the  dead  were  prayed  for  by  the  Jews.  It  stands 
to  reason  that  it  would  be  useless  to  pray  for  those 
whose  condition  could  in  no  way  be  improved. 

Our  Lord,  in  one  of  His  most  terrible  descriptions 
of  Gehenna,  concludes  His  teaching  with  some  words 
that  are  often  passed  over  when  the  context  is  quoted. 

1  St.  Matt.  V.  26.  2  St.  Matt.  xii.  31,  32.  ^  g^.  Luke  xii.  48. 


Witness  of  the  New  Testament — Hades     147 

After  repeating  that  in  Gehenna  the  fire  is  not  quenched, 
He  added :  "  For  every  one  shall  be  salted  with  fire, 
and  every  sacrifice  shall  be  salted  with  salt.  Salt  is 
good  :  but  if  the  salt  have  lost  his  saltness,  wherewith 
will  ye  season  it?  Have  salt  in  yourselves,  and  have 
peace  one  with  another."  1  What  do  these  words  of  our 
Lord  mean?  The  late  Bishop  Wordsworth  comments 
upon  them  :  "  If  men  will  not  be  seasoned  by  the  refining 
fire  of  God's  Spirit,  and  of  this  world's  trials,  they  will 
be  salted  with  the  fire  of  Tophet,  *  the  fire  and  brimstone,' 
the  Dead  Sea,  or  Salt  Sea,  of  Gehenna,  the  Lake  of 
Fire,  that  fire  which  has  the  property  of  salt,  in  that 
it  does  not  consume  but  preserve  its  victims — even  for 
evermore."  It  is  true  that  salt  in  some  portions  of  Holy 
Writ  is  associated  with  barrenness,  but  in  the  sacrifices 
it  was  called  "  the  salt  of  the  covenant  of  thy  God,"^ 
and  was  used  to  cleanse  and  to  season,  and  usually 
in  the  Bible,  salt,  when  used  as  a  symbol,  "  is  good." 
With  reference  to  what  Bishop  Wordsworth  says  we 
may  note  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  context  to  suggest 
that  "the  refining  fire  of  God's  Spirit"  is  what  our 
Lord  is  alluding  to.  The  passage  has  no  apparent  con- 
nection with  this  life,  but  is  entirely  associated  with  the 
fire  in  Gehenna.  May  not  St.  Paul's  statement  that 
"the  fire  shall  try  every  man's  work  of  what  sort  it  is," 
and  that  some  shall  be  saved,  "yet  so  as  by  fire,"^  have 
some  reference  to  our  Lord's  words  ?     The  assertion  of 

^  St.  Mark  ix.  49,  50,  ttSs  yhp  wvpl  a\i<r9ifi(y€TaL. 

'^  Lev.  ii.  13.  ^  I  Cor.  iii.  13,  15. 


148  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

our  Lord,  when  He  is  speaking  not  of  this  Hfe  but  of 
the  next,  that  "  every  one  " — not  merely  the  hopelessly 
wicked — ''shall  be  salted  with  fire,"  seems  at  least  to 
allow  of  discussion  as  to  w^hether  He  did  not  imply 
that  some  purification  —  perhaps  penal — awaited  all 
men.  The  fire  that  destroys  the  chaff  purifies  also 
and  refines  the  gold.  Whether  our  work  be  as  chaff 
or  gold  will  not  be  known  completely  here  but  here- 
after, because  as  St.  Paul  says,  "  it  shall  be  revealed 
by  fire."i 

Bearing  in  mind,  then,  that  those  who  heard  our 
Lord's  teaching  already  believed  that  some  souls  were 
punished  temporarily  in  Hades,  we  may  claim  some 
support  for  this  belief  from  the  Gospels.  It  is  not 
plainly  taught,  but  it  is  implied  in  several  passages. 
Those  who  deny  that  there  is  any  sanction  in  our 
Lord's  teaching  for  belief  in  a  temporary  state  of 
purification  after  death,  are  necessarily  bound  to  under- 
stand all  the  terrible  warnings  uttered  by  our  Lord  as 
to  suffering  in  Gehenna  as  references  to  the  everlasting 
punishment  of  the  wicked.  Our  Lord  certainly  taught 
with  unfaltering  voice  that  a  state  of  very  fearful 
suffering  existed  in  the  nether  world,  and  if  it  were 
not  a  temporary  state  it  must  needs  be  an  eternal  one, 

^  I  Cor.  iii.  13.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  repeat  the  warning  that  the 
language  of  Scripture  as  to  the  unseen  world  is  probably  entirely  figura- 
tive. The  "fire"  and  "the  worm"  of  Gehenna  are  no  more  to  be 
understood  literally  than  the  "gates  of  pearl"  and  "golden  streets,"  etc. 
of  Heaven.  The  one  symbol  represents  what  is  painful,  whether  for 
cleansing  or  torment ;  the  other,  glory  and  beauty. 


Witness  of  the  New  Testament — Hades     149 

or  one  in  which  they  who  suffer  are  entirely  destroyed 
and  cease  from  conscious  existence.  There  is  no 
alternative.  Volumes  have  been  written  on  the 
meaning  of  single  words  employed  by  our  Lord,  such 
as  '  aeonian  '  (aiwvio^),  '  judgment,'  '  punishment/  '  life,' 
etc.  And  what  is  the  result?  Merely  to  prove  that 
these  words  do  not  in  themselves  settle  the  question 
whether  or  not  the  soul  suffers  everlastingly  or  is 
utterly  destroyed.  Dean  Farrar,  for  example,  in  his 
Eternal  Hope,  merely  shows  that  in  popular  Protestant 
belief  the  loss  of  a  doctrine  of  a  purgatory  hereafter  has 
led  many  Christians  to  teach  the  monstrous  opinion 
that  most  men  are  "lost"  for  ever,  whereas  all  that 
the  Bible  teaches  is  that  some  may  be  lost.  The 
mere  fact  that  almost  all  Christians  have  from  the  first 
thought  that  our  Lord  taught  the  possibility  of  some 
being  for  ever  punished  in  Gehenna  and  excluded 
from  Heaven,  is  a  proof  that  such  teaching  lies  at 
any  rate  on  the  surface  of  the  New  Testament.  We 
may  revolt  against  this  belief  and  condemn  it,  but 
the  fact  remains  that  whereas  there  is  little  or  nothing 
in  the  Old  Testament  —  where  it  might  have  been 
looked  for — to  support  it,  it  is  from  our  Lord's  own 
lips  that  the  teaching  of  the  existence  of  Gehenna  has 
been  learned  by  the  Church,  and  it  is  in  His  words 
that  we  find  the  most  terrible  descriptions  of  the  place 
where  "the  fire  is  not  quenched,"  and  where  there 
is  "weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth."  When  all  has 
been  said  that  can  be  said,  nothing  can  alter  the  fact 


150  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

that  the  New  Testament  has  taught  men  to  believe  in 
everlasting  punishment,  and  that  our  Lord  Himself 
speaks  of  the  duration  of  the  joy  of  Heaven  as  exactly 
parallel  to  the  duration  of  the  punishment  of  Gehenna. 
"  These,"  He  said,  "  shall  go  away  into  aeonian  punish- 
ment \eU  Kokacriv  aicoviov],  but  the  righteous  into  life 
aeonian  [elg  ^wrjv  alwvLovY^  The  punishment  and  the 
life  are  each  aeonian,  and  if  the  one  means  everlasting, 
it  would  seem  difficult  to  deny  that  the  other  can 
mean  anything  less.  Again,  our  Lord  represents 
Himself  as  saying  to  the  reprobate,  "  Depart  from 
Me,  ye  cursed,  into  the  eternal  fire  [ek  to  irvp  to 
alwviov]  which  is  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his 
angels."  2  Xhe  righteous,  on  the  other  hand,  are 
spoken  of  as  taking  possession  of  "  the  kingdom " 
which  was  "  prepared "  for  them  "  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world."  The  reprobates  are  condemned  to 
aeonian  fire — not  prepared  for  them,  but  for  "  the  devil 
and  his  angels";  the  righteous  enter  into  the  joy  pre- 
pared for  all  men,  but  rejected  by  some.  Those 
who  have  done  most  to  modify  popular  exaggerations 
are  yet  unable  to  deny  that  Holy  Writ  seems  to  teach 
a  future  punishment  of  which  no  end  is  disclosed. 
Dr.  Farrar  writes :  "  I  have  never  denied  the  doctrine 
of  a  retribution — even  of  a  terrible  retribution  for  sin 
— either  in  this  world  or  in  the  life  to  come";  and 
again,  "  I  have  never  denied  —  nay,  in  spite  of  deep 
and   yearning    hope,    I   have    expressly   admitted,   the 

1  St.  Matt.  XXV.  34-46.  ^  Jbid.  41,  R.V. 


Witness  of  the  New  Testament — Hades     1 5 1 

possibility  of  even  endless  misery  for  those  who  abide 
in  the  determined  impenitence  of  final  and  willing  sin."  ^ 
This  is,  of  course,  all  that  the  Church  has  ever 
authoritatively  taught,  and  we  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude 
to  Dr.  Farrar  for  his  protest  against  the  unwarrantable 
additions  of  theologians,  and  for  his  exposure  of  the 
injury  done  to  reasonable  belief  by  the  Protestant 
denial  of  any  state  of  purification  hereafter.  Whether 
the  doctrine  of  eternal  punishment  is  in  itself  reason- 
able, or  whether  it  is  consistent  with  the  love  of  God, 
is  not  here  our  concern,  but  simply  whether  or  no  it 
was  taught  by  our  Lord.  Now,  while  it  is  possible 
for  the  learned^weighing  carefully  the  value  of  each 
of  the  Greek  words  used  in  the  New  Testament 
version  of  our  Lord's  teaching  as  to  Gehenna  —  to 
argue  that  no  single  passage  is  sufficiently  clear 
absolutely  to  establish  the  doctrine  of  everlasting 
punishment,  it  is  also  abundantly  evident  that  the 
Church  and  all  classes  of  men,  learned  and  unlearned, 
with  few  exceptions — have  from  the  first  understood 
our  Lord's  words  plainly  to  teach  that  doctrine.  The 
possibility  of  some  souls  being  everlastingly  punished 
was  quite  familiar  to  those  who  listened  to  our  Lord, 
and  His  words  must  have  altogether  confirmed  and 
strengthened  this  belief.  Whether  the  "punishment" 
involves  the  consciousness  of  the  "  lost,"  or  whether 
it  consists  in  the  loss  of  the  gift  of  "  eternal  life " 
and  the  Vision  of  God  through  total  destruction,  is  a 

^  Eternal  Hope,  pp.  12,  13. 


152  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

question   to   which    it    may   be   we   cannot    give   any- 
certain  answer. 

To  sum  up  this  chapter,  our  Lord  unquestionably 
taught  the  existence  of  Gehenna — a  state  of  suffering 
hereafter.  As  in  His  discourses  He  usually  represents 
the  wicked  passing  into  this  state  after  the  final 
judgment,  it  would  seem  as  if  our  Lord  did  not  wish 
to  represent  this  state  of  punishment  as  terminable. 
On  the  other  hand,  in  the  only  instance  where  our 
Lord  speaks  of  the  soul  in  the  intermediate  state 
before  the  resurrection  {i.e.,  in  the  parable  of  the  Rich 
Man  and  Lazarus),  it  is  possible  to  interpret  what  He 
tells  us  in  a  way  that  would  make  the  suffering  in 
Hades  educational — not  merely  penal.^  On  the  whole, 
then,  it  is  true  to  say  that  our  Lord  endorsed  the 
doctrine  already  familiar  to  the  Gentile  and  the  Jew, 
that  hereafter  some  souls  are  temporarily  punished  and 
perfected,  while  of  the  punishment  of  the  hopelessly 
wicked  He  disclosed  no  end.  We  turn  now  from  the 
consideration  of  our  Lord's  teaching  as  to  the  penal 
state  in  Hades  to  what  is  told  us  in  the  New 
Testament  about  the  state  of  consolation  called 
Abraham's    Bosom    and    Paradise. 

^  See  p.  54. 


IX. 

Zl)c  WitncBe  of  tbe  IRew  ZTcetament 

(iparaDise) 


"  O  yet  we  trust  that  somewhere  good 
Will  be  the  final  goal  of  ill, 
To  pangs  of  nature,  sins  of  will, 
Defects  of  doubt,  and  taints  of  blood  ; 
So  runs  my  dream." — Tennyson. 


Ube  Mttness  of  tbe  IRew  ITestament— ipatabtse 

THE  orthodox  Jews  were  accustomed  to  speak  of 
the  abode  in  Hades  where  the  souls  of  the 
righteous  awaited  the  resurrection,  as  Abraham's  Bosom, 
Gan  Eden,  and  Paradise. 

Our  Lord,  therefore,  used  well-understood  words 
when  in  one  of  His  parables  He  told  how  Lazarus  after 
his  death  "  was  carried  by  the  angels^  into  Abraham's 
bosom  " ;  and  also  when  from  the  cross  He  gave  to  the 
penitent  robber  the  promise,  "  To-day  shalt  thou  be 
with  Me  in  Paradise."^ 

Our  Lord,  however,  added  nothing  to  the  knowledge 
of  those  He  addressed  as  to  the  condition  of  the  soul  in 
the  interval  between  the  death  and  resurrection  of  the 
body. 

We  must,  therefore,  look  a  little  more  carefully  into , 
the  sacred  Scriptures  if  we  would  understand  the 
teaching  that  gathers  around  the  intermediate  state  of 
the  righteous ;  for  we  shall  find  that  it  is  closely 
associated  with  much  that  concerns  the  fall  and  re- 
demption of  man. 

^  St.  Luke  xvi.  22,  Kal  airevex&W'^'-  olvtov  virb  twv  dyy^ciiv. 
^  St.  Luke  xxiii.  43. 

155 


156  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen   World 

In  one  sense  "Paradise"  and  "Abraham's  Bosom" 
are  synonymous,  but  in  another  sense  they  are  widely 
different.  This  difference  is  suggested  by  the  fact  that 
the  word  Paradise  is  twice  used  after  Pentecost  in  the 
New  Testament  when  the  future  state  is  spoken  of, 
while  there  is  no  such  reference  to  Abraham's  Bosom. 

The  word  Paradise,  though  it  appears  in  the  Old 
Testament  in  its  Hebrew  form  {Pardes)}  is,  there  can 
hardly  be  a  doubt,  a  word  of  Aryan  rather  than  of 
Shemetic  origin.  It  was  probably  borrowed  by  the 
Jews  from  Persia.  In  its  original  signification,  and  in 
the  Classics^  the  word  simply  means  a  beautiful  park  or 
pleasure-garden.  After  the  conquests  of  Alexander 
the  Great  the  word  gained  a  recognised  place  in  the 
language  of  the  Hellenistic  Jews,  and  was  adopted  by 
those  who  translated  the  Pentateuch  into  Greek  as 
the  equivalent  of  the  "garden"^  that  the  Lord  God 
"  planted  eastward  in  Eden " ;  and  they  used  it  in 
the  other  portions  of  the  Septuagint  for  any  allusion 
to  that  fair  home  of  primeval  man.  Paradise  was 
thenceforth  to  the  Jew  the  bright  and  happy  region 
that  had  been  lost  by  sin.  By  an  easy  succession  of 
ideas  the  word  then  became  associated  with  the  future 
home  of  rest  and  tranquil  enjoyment  into  which  Abraham 
the  Father  of  the  faithful  was  thought  to  welcome  his 
children  at  the  hour  of  their  death,  or  when  they  were 
purified  and  made  ready  for  their  reward. 

^  Song  of  Sol.  iv.  13  ;  Eccles.  ii.  5  ;  Neh.  ii.  8.  ^  e.g.  Xenophon. 

'  Gen.  ii.  8,  "The  Lord  God  planted  2^ paradise. 


Witness  of  the  New  Testament — Paradise     1 5  7 

As  might  be  expected,  the  various  Jewish  sects  had 
different  theories  respecting  Paradise  ;  some  interpreted 
the  word  in  a  merely  allegorical  sense,  and  understood 
by  it  the  attainment  of  spiritual  perfection ;  others,  such 
as  the  Rabbinic  schools,  mapped  out  Paradise  much 
as  Dante  did  in  after  ages,  and  had  a  complete  topo- 
graphy of  this  part  of  the  unseen  world.^ 

Out  of  these  theories  grew  the  popular  belief  that 
the  righteous  Jews  passed  at  death  to  a  fair  region  of 
great  beauty,  almost  exactly  resembling  the  Elysian 
fields  of  the  Greek  mythology.  Here  they  enjoyed  the 
society  of  the  heroes  of  their  race,  and  notably  that  of 
their  father  Abraham.  It  was  believed  that  the  faithful 
in  Paradise  reclined  as  honoured  guests  on  the  bosom 
of  the  great  Patriarch  at  that  festive  banquet  which 
was  the  Jewish  anticipation  of  "  the  marriage  supper 
of  the  Lamb."^  So  far,  then,  the  two  titles  Paradise 
and  Abraham's  Bosom  are  synonymous.  It  is  only 
when  we  remember  that  in  the  primeval  earthly 
Paradise  man  enjoyed  the  society  and  friendship  of 
God,  that  we  notice  the  great  difference  between  the 
state  of  man  in  Eden  and  the  conception  of  the  future 
life  conveyed  under  the  figure  of  Abraham's  Bosom. 
In  the  one  we  have  as  its  characteristic  the  thought 
of  the  presence  of  God,  while  in  the  other  God  is 
apparently  forgotten  and  the  Patriarch  takes  His  place ! 

^  It  must,  however,  be  borne  in  mind  that  Dante  by  Paradise  meant — 
as  Christians  usually  mean — not  a  part  of  Hades,  but  Heaven, 
*^  Rev.  xix.  9. 


158  The  Sotil  in  the   Unseen    World 

To  account  for  this  we  must  go  back  to  the  earliest 
record  that  there  is  of  man  in  the  Bible. 

It  is  clear  that,  at  some  period  of  time,  man  was 
brought  into  a  special  relationship  with  God,  and  that 
man  by  wilful  distrust  and  disobedience  forfeited  to 
a  great  extent  the  privileges  that  had  hitherto  been  his 
through  friendship  and  union  with  the  Creator.  This 
separation  was  symbolised  by  the  expulsion  of  man 
from  Eden.  We  read  that,  "  The  Lord  God  sent  him 
forth  from  the  garden  of  Eden  [Paradise]  to  till  the 
ground  from  whence  he  was  taken.  So  He  drove  out 
the  man ;  and  He  placed  at  the  east  of  the  garden 
of  Eden  \tov  TrapaSelcrog]  cherubims,  and  a  flaming 
sword  which  turned  every  way,  to  keep  the  way  of  the 
tree  of  life."^ 

However  figurative  this  language  may  be,  it  is  evi- 
dently intended  to  teach  us  that  sin  means  a  separa- 
tion from  God  and  the  loss  of  the  joy  of  His  presence. 

The  promise,  however,  was  given  of  a  Redeemer 
Who,  as  "  the  Seed  of  the  woman,"  should  bruise  the 
serpent's  head.^  It  was  only  when  this  promise  had 
been  fulfilled,  and  the  Incarnate  Word  had  overcome 
death  and  opened  unto  us  the  gate  of  everlasting  life, 
that  the  voice  came  from  heaven  with  the  promise 
that  "  to  him  that  overcometh  will  I  give  to  eat  of  the 

^  Gen.  iii.  23,  24. 

^  Gen.  iii.  15.  For  refutation  of  the  Vulgate  reading  of  "Ipsa"  instead 
of  ' '  Ipse  "  see  De  Rossi's  Varr.  Lectt.  Vet,  Test.  vol.  iv. ,  App. ,  pp.  208, 
209. 


Witness  of  the  New  Testament — Paradise     159 

tree  of  life,  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  Paradise  of 
God."i 

It  was  a  true  instinct,  then,  that  led  the  Jews  to  speak 
of  the  state  of  the  righteous  dead  as  in  Abraham's 
Bosom  rather  than  the  Bosom  of  God ;  for  until  Jesus 
Christ,  "  the  Seed  of  the  woman,"  had  opened  the  closed 
gates  of  the  heavenly  Paradise  and  Himself  entered 
therein,  the  souls  of  the  righteous  dead  were  excluded 
from  the  Vision  of  God. 

It  may  have  been  for  this  reason  that  our  Lord  did  not 
speak  of  the  nether  world  of  the  blessed  as  "  Paradise  " 
until  He  Himself  was  about  to  enter  in  among  the  dead, 
and  thus  give  to  them  that  which  was  essential  to 
Paradise  properly  so  called — the  realisation  of  the  Divine 
presence.  The  place  in  which  Abraham,  the  Fathers, 
and  the  righteous  dead  were  waiting,  became  truly 
Paradise  the  moment  that  the  human  soul  of  God 
Incarnate  entered  into  it.  Strictly  speaking,  it  was 
not  Paradise  before  our  Lord  by  His  entry  glorified 
it,  though  it  was  spoken  of  by  that  name  by  those 
who  had  forgotten  that,  in  losing  Eden,  man  had 
lost  the  privilege  of  living  in  the  consciousness  of 
the  presence  of  God. 

Surely  when  the  Lord  God,  walking  in  Paradise,  "  in 
the  cool  of  the  day,"  on  the  evening  of  that  first  Good 
Friday,  had  revealed  Himself  to  the  waiting  dead  as 
their  long-expected  Deliverer,  it  became  impossible 
that  they  should  ever  again  be  comforted  by  any  merely 
human  presence,  even  though  it  were  that  of  Abraham 

/^  Rev.  ii.  7. 


i6o  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

"  the  friend  of  God "  ?  A  greater  than  Abraham  had 
come  to  them,  and  henceforth  in  His  presence  alone 
could  they  find  light  and  joy  and  peace.  Like  the 
beloved  disciple,  they  would  seek  to  rest  on  the  breast 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  no  longer  dream  of  Paradise  as 
a  repose  on  the  bosom  of  Abraham. 

Henceforth  the  earthly  thoughts  that  men  had  for 
so  long  associated  with  their  dream  of  bliss  must  be 
forgotten  ;  in  place  of  the  Paradise  of  the  Patriarch 
there  has  been  opened  to  them  a  more  blessed  home, 
and  they  can  now  be  satisfied  with  nothing  less  than 
the  "Paradise  of  God."  In  the  "cool  of  the  day"  of 
the  redemption  of  the  world,  the  Redeemer  "went 
and  preached  unto  the  spirits  in  prison "  ^  the  glad 
tidings  of  their  speedy  deliverance  from  the  "  power 
of  the  grave "  ^ — from  the  dominion  of  Hades.  He 
told  them  of  the  near  approach  of  the  moment  when 
He  would  "open  the  kingdoms  of  the  heavens  \regna 
coelorui}i\  to  all  believers." 

Long  ages  ago,  beneath  the  trees  of  Eden,  God  had 
announced  the  curse  under  which  man  had  fallen  by 
his  sin ;  now  His  presence  makes  another  Paradise 
and  in  it  He  proclaims  the  plenteous  redemption, 
which  restores  the  right  ^  to  "  the  tree  of  life  which 
is  in  the  midst  of  the  Paradise  of  God." 

If  this  is  the  meaning  of  what  we  are  told  in  the 
New  Testament,  it  is  clear  that  the  Passion  of  Christ 
worked  an  immense  change  in  the  state  of  the  righteous 

^  I  St.  Peter  iii.  19.  ^  Hosea  xiii.  14.  ^  Rev.  xxii.  14. 


Witness  of  the  New  Testmnent — Paradise     i6i 

in  Hades,  as  well  as  in  the  condition  of  those  who  were 
living  upon  the  earth.^ 

St.  Matthew  tells  us  that  at  the  moment  of  our  Lord's 
entry  into  Hades — that  is  to  say,  at  the  moment  of  His 
death — not  only  "  the  veil  of  the  Temple  was  rent,"  but 
"the  graves  were  opened."^  This  was  probably  sig- 
nificant of  a  change,  not  only  in  the  state  of  the  Church 
on  earth,  but  also  in  the  condition  of  the  Church 
expectant.  St.  Matthew  goes  on  to  say  that  "many 
of  them  which  slept  arose,  and  came  out  of  their  graves." 

Without  attempting  to  be  wise  above  what  is  written, 
or  to  pry  into  the  deep  things  of  God,  we  may  perhaps, 
from  a  reverent  consideration  of  what  has  been  written 
in  Holy  Scripture  for  our  learning,  be  able  to  gather 
some  knowledge  of  what  our  Lord  did,  when  "  He 
descended  into  Hades,"  for  the  dead  already  gathered 
there,  and  what  His  death  has  accomplished  for  those 
who  since  His  Ascension  have  died  "in  the  Lord."^ 

It  is  strange  that  any  Christian  should  doubt  that 
the  Passion  effected  an  alteration  in  the  intermediate 
state,  or  think  that  they  who  have  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus 
are  still  excluded  from  the  presence  of  God  as  those 

^  Delitzsch  writes :  "There  is  a  considerable  difference  between  the  condi- 
tion of  the  souls  of  the  departed  prior  and  subsequent  to  the  advent  of  Jesus 
Christ.  ...  In  respect  of  their  souls,  they  are  in  the  land  of  the  living : 
they  are  at  home  with  the  Lord,  after  whom  they  longed  ...  in  Paradise  .  .  . 
before  God's  throne  ...  At  least  the  degree  of  blessing  of  vision  {visio 
heatifica)  is  even  now  a  manifest  one,  and  many  are  partakers  of  it, 
although  certainly  .  .  .  the  bliss  even  of  the  most  favoured  will  experience 
a  manifest  enhancement"  after  the  resurrection. — Biblic,  Psych. ^  p.  497. 

'•^  St.  Matt,  xxvii.  51,  52.  ^  Rev.  xiv.  13, 

M 


1 62  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

were  who  died  before  the  kingdom  of  heaven  was 
opened  to  all  believers.  Such  a  doubt  is  the  more 
remarkable  because  the  language  of  the  Epistles  is 
noticeably  different  to  the  language  used  in  the  Gospels 
about  the  life  after  death.  Before  the  Ascension  the 
place  our  Lord  spoke  of  as  Paradise  is  referred  to  as 
beneath  the  earth.  St.  Paul  writes :  "  Now  that  He 
ascended,  what  is  it  but  that  He  also  descended  first 
into  the  lower  parts  of  the  earth } "  ^  and  St.  Peter 
tells  us  that  Jesus  Christ  was  "  put  to  death  in  the 
flesh,  but  quickened  in  the  spirit ;  in  which  also  He 
went  and  preached  unto  the  spirits  in  prison."  ^  More- 
over, in  the  Apostles'  Creed  we  say  that  "He  descended 
into  hell,"^ — that  is,  into  the  nether  world,  Hades,  the 
place  of  departed  spirits. 

We  have  to  contrast  these  references  to  Paradise — 
before  our  Lord's  Resurrection  —  as  a  place  beneath, 
with  the  words  of  St.  Paul,  which  speak  of  it  as  a  place 
above :  "  I  knew  a  man  in  Christ  above  fourteen  years 
ago  ...  such  an  one  caught  up  to  the  third  heaven. 
And  I  knew  such  a  man  .  .  .  how  that  he  was  caught 
up  into  Paradise,"  *  etc.  {apirayevra  .  .  .  ^pirdyt], 
"  snatched  up  "). 

By  Paradise,   Cornelius  A   Lapide   understands   the 

^  Eph.  iv.  9. 

^  I  St.  Peter  iii.  18,  19.  Some  commentators  deny  that  these  passages 
refer  to  the  descent  into  Hades  (see  Pearson,  On  the  Creed). 

^  Descendit  ad  inferos. 

■*  2  Cor.  xii.  2-4.  Rapius  est  in  Faradiswn  (Vulgate).  The  soul 
pf  Lazarus  was  "carried"  {portaretur)  by  angels. 


Witness  of  the  New  Testament — Paradise     163 

highest  Heaven  ;  but  without  entering  into  the  question 
as  to  whether  St.  Paul  was  "  caught  up  "  twice  (once  to 
the  third  Heaven,  and  then  higher  still,  to  Paradise), 
or  whether  there  was  but  one  "  rapture "  and  conse- 
quently the  "  third  Heaven "  and  "  Paradise "  are 
different  names  for  the  same  place,  we  cannot  doubt 
that  Paradise  is  no  longer  a  place  to  which  one  could 
be  said  to  descend.  It  could  no  longer  be  "  the  lower 
parts  of  the  earth,"  or  "  prison,"  or  "  Hades." 

St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  writing  in  the  fourth  century, 
says:  "Elias  was  taken  up  only  to  Heaven;  but  Paul 
both  into  Heaven  and  into  Paradise ;  (for  it  behoved  the 
disciple  of  Jesus  to  receive  more  manifold  grace,)"  etc.^ 

The  next  reference  to  Paradise  is  in  the  Book  of  the 
Revelation  of  St.  John,  where  the  reward  "  to  him  that 
overcometh"  is  that  he  shall  "eat  of  the  tree  of  life, 
which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  Paradise  of  God."  ^  Does 
not  this  transference  of  the  imagery  of  the  earthly  to 
the  heavenly  Paradise  bear  out  the  contention  that 
where  God  reveals  His  presence,  there  is  the  true 
Paradise? 

Archbishop  Trench,  in  his  Epistles  to  the  Seven  Churches, 
traces  the  gradual  development  of  the  meaning  of  the  word 
Paradise.  He  says  :  "  We  may  thus  trace  Ila/oa^efo-o? 
passing  through  an  ascending  scale  of  meanings.  From 
any  garden  of  delight,  which  is  its  first  meaning,  it 
comes  to  be  predominantly  applied  to  the  Garden  of 
Eden,    then  to  the  resting-place  of  separate  souls    in 

,  ^  Catech.  Led.  xiv.  26,  ^  Rev,  ii,  7. 


164  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

joy  and  felicity,  and  lastly  to  the  very  heaven  itself; 
and  we  see  eminently  in  it,  what  we  see  indeed  in  so 
many  words,  how  revealed  religion  assumes  them  into 
its  service,  and  makes  them  vehicles  of  far  higher 
truth  than  any  which  they  knew  at  first,  transform- 
ing and  transfiguring  them,  as  in  this  case,  from 
glory  to  glory."  ^ 

What,  then,  is  the  cause  of  this  change  of  language, 
which  speaks  of  Paradise,  not  as  "  in  the  lower  parts 
of  the  earth,"  but  as  being  where  "  He  ascended  up  on 
high  "  ?  Cornelius  A  Lapide  explains  it  in  four  words  : 
Ubi  Christus  ibi  Paradisus.  Ubi  visio  Dei,  et  beatitudo, 
ibi  est  coelum — "  Where  Christ  is,  there  is  Paradise. 
Where  the  vision  of  God  is,  and  beatitude,  there  is 
Heaven."  When  Christ  descended  into  the  lower  parts 
of  the  earth — -fecit  ut  limbus  esset  Paradisus — He  made 
Limbus  to  be  Paradise.  ^ 

Our  Lord  by  His  presence  made  the  place  of  waiting 
in  Hades  to  be  Paradise  in  a  truer  sense  than  it  had 
been  before.  But  our  Lord's  sojourn  in  Hades  was 
only  temporary — between-  His  Death  and  Resurrection. 
When  He  arose  from  the  dead  did  the  souls  that 
had  welcomed  the  Lord  God  in  Hades  lose  His 
presence?  Surely  not.  The  tradition  of  the  Church, 
for  which  there  is  not  wanting  Scriptural  proof,  is  that 
at  His  Resurrection  our  Lord  led  forth  all  the  perfect 
spirits  of  the  righteous  who  had  been  held  captive  by 

^  p.  102. 

^  Commentary  In  Evangelia.     St.  Luke  xxiii.  43. 


Witness  of  the  New  Testament — Paradise     165 

death.  St.  Matthew  distinctly  says  that  "the  graves 
were  opened,  and  many  bodies  of  the  saints  which 
slept  arose,  and  came  out  of  the  graves  after  His 
Resurrection^  and  went  into  the  holy  city,  and  appeared 
unto  many."^  Our  Lord,  then,  we  may  believe,  "led 
forth  the  ransomed  saints  to  light "  ;  ^  He  emptied  the 
abode  in  which  the  souls  of  the  righteous  had  hitherto 
awaited  His  coming,  and  gave  them  a  share  in  His 
Resurrection.  We  know  that  during  the  great  forty 
days  between  His  Resurrection  and  Ascension  our 
Lord  lived  for  the  most  part  a  hidden  life.  Only  at 
rare  intervals  did  He  visibly  go  into  the  holy  city 
or  appear  to  His  disciples.  May  it  not  be  that  this 
hidden  life  was  lived  with  those  whom  He  had  freed 
from  death,  and  that  they  enjoyed  His  presence  in  the 
spiritual  world  which  is  veiled  from  the  eyes  of  those 
who  are  still  in  the  natural  body?  Before  His  Resur- 
rection it  needed  an  exercise  of  our  Lord's  Divine 
power  to  hide  Himself  from  the  sight  of  men — after 
His  Resurrection  it  required  an  exercise  of  His  power 
in  order  to  reveal  Himself  to  His  disciples.  He  had 
entered  into  the  spiritual  kingdom  which  flesh  and 
blood  cannot  inherit,  and  into  which  consequently  the 

^  Ch.  xxvii.  52,  53. 

^  From  the  hymn,  ^^  Aurora  caelum  purpurat^^^  sung  at  Lauds  on  Low 
Sunday  in  the  Latin  offices.     See  translation  in  Hymns  A.  mid  M.^  126 — 

"While  He,  the  King,  the  Mighty  King, 

Despoiling  death  of  all  its  sting, 
■    And,  trampling  down  the  powers  of  night, 

Brings  forth  His  ransomed  saints  to  light." 


1 66  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

disciples  could  not  enter  while  they  were  still  in  the 
flesh.  St.  Paul  says,  speaking  of  the  natural  body, 
that  "  whilst  we  are  at  home  in  the  body  we  are 
absent  from  the  Lord  "  ^ — but  they  who  are  "  absent 
from  the  body,"  or  clothed  with  the  spiritual  body  of 
the  resurrection,  are  "present  with  the  Lord."  It 
may  well,  then,  have  been  the  case  that,  while  the 
Apostles  were  only  miraculously  made  aware  now  and 
then  of  the  presence  of  Christ,  those  whom  He  had 
brought  with  Him  from  the  dead  were  ever  "present 
with  the  Lord,"  as  partakers  in  His  Resurrection.  If 
this  were  so,  then  we  have  an  explanation  of  the 
words  of  the  Apostle  who,  speaking  of  the  Ascension 
of  our  Lord,  says  that  "  when  He  ascended  up  on  high, 
He  led  captivity  captive,"  or  as  it  might  be  translated, 
and  is  in  the  margin  of  our  Bibles  (A.V.),  "He  led  a 
multitude  of  captives."  ^  He  ascended  not  alone,  but, 
as  a  great  conqueror,  He  led  in  His  train  multitudes 
whom  He  had  taken  out  of  the  captivity  of  death,  and 
to  whom  He  gave  liberty  and  life  eternal,  and  the  joy 
of  His  presence  for  evermore.  The  great  commen- 
tator Cornelius  A  Lapide  writes :  "  Christ  delivered  the 

^  2  Cor.  V.  6-8. 

^  Eph.  iv.  8.  This  is  frequently  referred  to  in  the  ancient  offices  of 
the  Church.  In  the  Latin  hymn  for  Vespers  and  Lauds,  on  Ascension 
Day  Salutis  humance  Sator  {Brev.  Rom.) — 

"  Thou,  bursting  Hades  open  wide, 
Didst  all  the  captive  souls  unchain ; 
And  thence  to  Thy  dread  Father's  side 
With  glorious  pomp  ascend  again." 


Witness  of  the  New  Testmnent — Paradise     167 

patriarchs,  prophets  and  other  holy  ones  from  the 
dominion  ^  of  Hades,  and  having  made  them  captives 
by  His  holy  and  happy  captivity,  He,  triumphing,  led 
them  up  to  Heaven."  ^  The  teaching  of  the  early 
reformers  of  the  Church  of  England  on  this  subject 
is  found  in  the  interpretation  of  the  fifth  Article  of  the 
Creed,  in  The  Institution  of  a  Christian  Man :  "  Our 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  at  His  entry  into  hell, 
first  conquered  and  oppressed  both  the  devil  and  hell, 
and  also  death  itself  .  .  .  afterwards  He  spoiled  hell  and 
delivered  and  brought  with  Him  from  thence  alt  the  souls 
of  the  righteous  and  good  men  which  from  the  fall  of 
Adam  died  in  the  favour  of  God,  and  in  the  faith  and 
belief  of  this  our  Saviour,  which  was  then  to  come." 
If  Paradise  is  the  place  where  the  Incarnate  God  is 

^  St.   Paul  writes  that  ' '  death  reigned  "  until  our  Lord  destroyed  his 
power  (Rom.  v.  14). 
^  Thus  in  the  hymn,  Ad  regias  agni  dapes  {A.  and  4^.,  127) — 

"  Mighty  Victim  from  the  sky 
Hell's  fierce  powers  beneath  Thee  lie  ; 
Thou  hast  conquered  in  the  fight, 
Thou  hast  brought  us  life  and  light. 

*'  Now  no  more  can  death  appal, 
Now  no  more  the  grave  enthral ; 
Thou  hast  opened  Paradise, 
And  in  Thee  Thy  saints  shall  rise." 

Much  of  the  force  of  this  and  other  hymns  is  lost  in  the  translation,  as 
a  comparison  of  the  above  with  the  Latin  will  make  plain — 

* '  Victor  subactis  inferis, 
Trophsea  Christus  explicat, 
Coeloque  aperto,  subditum, 
Regem  tenebrarum  trahit." 


1 68  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

manifest,  then  it  must  be  now  in  one  or  more  of  the 
many  mansions  above — not  beneath  in  Hades. 

The  Passion  has  merited  that  all  should  escape  the 
dominion  of  death,  as  soon  as  whatever  is  akin  to  death 
be  done  away  in  the  soul.  Since  the  Ascension,  then, 
they  who  die  in  the  Lord  find  that  their  reward  is  to  be 
"  with  Christ.''  This  is  apparently  the  teaching  of  St. 
Paul,  who  speaks  of  his  confident  expectation  that  when 
he  departs  this  life  he  shall  be  "  with  Christ,"  and  though 
absent  from  the  body  "  be  present  with  the  Lord."  It 
is  an  article  of  the  faith  that  Christ  has  "  ascended  into 
Heaven,"  and  therefore  it  is  clear  that  if  St.  Paul  ex- 
pected to  be  with  Christ,  he  expected  to  be  in  Heaven 
even  before  the  resurrection. 

To  quote  the  words  of  St.  Gregory  the  Great :  "  Who 
doubteth  not  that  Christ  is  in  Heaven,  doubteth  not 
also  that  the  soul  of  Paul  is  in  Heaven." 

Hence,  in  the  later  language  of  the  Church,  Paradise 
is  a  synonym  for  Heaven,  though  it  is  the  custom  of 
some  to  associate  the  word  Heaven  with  the  state  of 
glory,  reserved  for  the  perfect  man  after  the  resurrection 
of  the  flesh,  and  to  use  the  word  Paradise  when  speak- 
ing of  the  abode  of  "the  spirits  of  just  men  made 
perfect"^  who  are  already  "with  Christ,"  but  are  not 
yet  clothed  with  the  glory  of  a  spiritual  body.  As  long 
as  we  allow  that  the  perfected  spirits  are,  since  the 
Ascension,  no  longer  excluded  from  the  Vision  of 
God,  it  is  not  a  riiatter  of  any  great  moment  whether 

^  Heb.  xii.  23. 


Witness  of  the  New  Tesiameut — Paradise     169 

we  associate  their  blissful  life  with  the  name  of  Paradise 
or  Heaven.  "Where  Christ  is,  there  is  Paradise";  the 
redeemed  who  have  departed  hence  and  have  been 
cleansed  from  all  stain  are  "  with  Christ,"  and  Christ  is 
in  Heaven.  That  is  enough.  His  presence  fills  all  in 
the  "  many  mansions  "  with  joy  and  peace  ;  and  whether 
the  lower  of  these  mansions  be  more  correctly  called 
Paradise,  and  the  higher — reserved  for  the  just  after 
the  resurrection — called  Heaven,  is  not  a  matter  of  any 
vital  importance.  It  is  important,  however,  to  bear  in 
mind  that,  owing  to  the  meritorious  Cross  and  Passion 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  spirits  of  just  men  made 
perfect  are  no  longer  excluded  from  the  Vision  of  God 
until  the  far-off  day  of  the  resurrection,  but  through 
His  Precious  Blood  and  for  His  merits'  sake  they  are 
even  now  "with  Christ"  where  He  is.^  This  St.  Paul 
taught  when  he  wrote :  "  We  know  that  if  our  earthly 
house  of  this  tabernacle  were  dissolved,  we  have  a  build- 
ing of  God,  an  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in 
the  heavens."^  This  is  not  the  language  of  the  Jew, 
but  of  the  Christian.  It  is  sometimes  objected  that 
the  belief  that  the  soul  enjoys  the  Vision  of  God 
before  the  general  judgment  renders  that  judgment 
useless.    If  those  who  thus  argue  believe  that  no  soul 

^  Delitzsch  agrees  with  the  Cathohc  commentators  in  this.  He  writes  : 
"Then  ascending  out  of  Hades  .  .  .  He  led  the  men  who  in  Hades 
honoured  Him  .  .  .  toward  Heaven,  for  Paradise  is  from  that  time  forth 
above  the  earth,  and  the  souls  of  the  blessed  dead  are  .  .  .  henceforth  in 
Heaven." — Biblic.  Psych. ^  p.  485. 

^  2  Cor.  v.  I. 


170  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

can  know  its  fate  until  the  general  judgment,  the 
objection  is  intelligible;  but  in  that  case  the  soul 
must  either  be  in  a  state  of  suspense  until  the  resur- 
rection, or  else  wrapped  in  unconsciousness.  If  the 
soul  is  rewarded  or  punished  —  as  Holy  Scripture 
teaches — before  the  resurrection,  some  form  of  judgment 
must  have  already  been  passed  upon  the  soul.  The 
degree  of  reward  cannot  affect  the  utility  of  the  judg- 
ment. If  the  soul  may  reasonably  be  supposed  to  be 
in  "joy  and  felicity"  before  the  resurrection  and  yet 
without  incongruity  be  "judged"  at  the  last  day,  it  is 
difficult  to  see  why  the  fact  that  this  joy  and  felicity  are 
said  to  be  found  in  the  Vision  of  God  should  render 
the  judgment  superfluous.  The  explanation  that  seems 
most  in  conformity  with  Holy  Scripture  is  that  given 
by  the  general  consent  of  the  Church,  namely,  that  at 
the  moment  of  death  each  particular  soul  is  judged,  and 
its  final  destiny  is  made  known  to  it.  At  the  last  day 
this  judgment  is  made  known  publicly,  and  God  is 
justified  in  His  works.  In  these  two  judgments — the 
particular  and  the  general,  as  they  are  called — man  is 
dealt  with  in  his  twofold  capacity — as  an  individual,  and 
as  a  member  of  the  whole  human  race. 

Again,  although  the  soul  is  the  Ego^  or  responsible 
part  of  man,  and  is  thus  fitly  rewarded  or  punished,  yet 
the  body  is  essential  to  constitute  man  in  his  complete- 
ness.     The  soul  apart   from  the  body  is  not  "  man."  ^ 

^  It  seems  evident  from  Holy  Scripture  that  the  soul  retains  a  bodily 
form  after  death,  as  in  all  cases  in  Holy  Scripture  the  dead  are  recognis- 


Witness  of  the  New  Testament — Paradise     1 7 1 

Hence  the  final  judgment  follows  the  resurrection,  so 
that  the  body  may  share  in  the  glory  or  disgrace  that 
has  already  been  the  lot  of  the  soul  in  its  disembodied 
state.  The  resurrection  of  the  body,  it  may  be  sup- 
posed, increases  the  joy  or  misery  of  the  soul.  Here 
on  earth  the  body  is  essential,  but  hereafter  the  soul  can 
and  does  exist  apart  from  the  body  between  death  and 
the  resurrection,  and  yet,  as  the  soul  is  designed  to 
inhabit  a  body,  the  body  is  needful  for  the  complete- 
ness— the  bene  esse — though  not  for  the  existence — the 
esse — of  the  future  life.  The  beatitude  of  the  soul  in 
the  resurrection  is  increased,  not  in  intensity  but  in 
extension ;  that  is  to  say,  the  Vision  of  God  remains 
the  same,  but  is  enjoyed  with  a  greater  number  of 
faculties.  It  is,  therefore,  quite  untrue  to  say  that  the 
general  judgment  and  the  resurrection  are  rendered 
useless  by  the  belief  that  the  perfected  spirits  are — since 
the  Ascension — admitted  to  the  Vision  of  God,  and  are 
"  with  Christ "  in  Heaven.  It  is  also  untrue  to  say  that 
this  doctrine  involves  the  belief  that  the  soul  receives 
its  full  reward  before  the  resurrection. 

We  have  witnesses  in  all  ages  of  the  Church  in  sup- 
port of  the  interpretation  that  has  been  given  here  of 
the  passages  of  Holy  Writ  that  speak  of  the  work  of 
our  Lord  in  Hades :  of  His  liberation  of  the  souls  of 

able  by  those  who  see  them — e.g.  Samuel,  Moses  and  Elias,  Dives  and 
Lazarus.  St.  Irenaeus  says:  "Souls  .  .  .  keep  the  very  same  bodily 
form  in  which  they  are  moulded  .  .  .  they  have  the  figure  of  a  man,  so 
as  to  be  both  known  and  to  remember  the  things  which  are  here"  on 
earth.     (Book  ii.,  xxxiv.  i.) 


17^  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

the  righteous  in  His  triumph  over  death  ;  of  their  ex- 
altation with  Him  to  Heaven  at  His  Ascension ;  and 
of  the  entrance  there  of  the  souls  of  the  faithful  when 
they  have  been  perfected.^ 

St.  Clement  of  Alexandria  writes  that  "  The  Lord 
descended  to  Hades  for  no  other  purpose  but  to  preach 
the  Gospel.  .  .  .  Further,  the  Gospel  says  that  many 
bodies  of  them  that  slept  arose — plainly  as  having  been 
translated  to  a  better  state.  There  took  place,  then, 
a  universal  movement  and  translation  through  the 
economy  of  the  Saviour."^  Tertullian  teaches  that 
"  Christ  descended  to  the  lower  parts  of  the  earth,  that 
there  He  might  make  the  patriarchs  and  prophets 
participants  of  Himself,  and  presently  caused  them  to 
pass  to  Paradise  by  sharing  in  His  Resurrection."  St. 
Cyril  of  Jerusalem  says  that  "  He  descended  to  the 
regions  beneath  the  earth,  that  from  thence  also  He 
might  redeem  the  just.  For  wouldest  thou,  I  pray, 
that  the  living  should  enjoy  His  grace,  and  that, 
being  most  of  them  unholy ;  and  that  those  who  from 
Adam  had  been  imprisoned  long  while,  should  not  now 
obtain  deliverance?  Wouldest  thou  not  that  He  should 
descend  and  rescue  such  as  these  ?  " 

^  The  assertion  of  some  writers  that  Paradise  is  not  the  highest  heaven 
seems  to  be  refuted  by  the  fact  that  Paradise  is  "  where  Christ  is,"  and  Pie 
is  in  the  highest  heaven — "above  all  the  heavens."     See  Eph.  iv.  lo. 

^  End  of  second  century.     Sironiaia,  vi.  6. 


X. 

^be  ^eacbing  of  tbe  primitive  Cburcb 


"  If  I  might  leave  one  bequest  to  the  rising  generation  of  clergy, 
who  will  have  (what  I  have  had  only  incidentally)  the  office  of 
preachers,  it  would  be, '  In  addition  to  the  study  of  Holy  Scripture, 
which  they  too  studied  night  and  day,  study  the  Fathers,  especially 
St.  Augustine.'  "—Dr.  Pusey. 


X. 

Z\)c  Ucacbim  ot  tbe  prim(tt\>e  Cburcb 

IN  the  period  immediately  following  the  apostolic  age 
the  Church  did  not  formulate  any  dogmas  as  to  the 
condition  of  the  soul  between  the  death  and  resurrection 
of  the  body. 

There  seems  no  reason  to  doubt  that  some  of  the 
converts  from  Judaism  continued  to  think  of  the 
righteous  dead  as  awaiting  the  second  coming  of  our 
Lord  in  a  place  similar  to  that  which  they  had  been 
accustomed  to  speak  of  as  Abraham's  Bosom. 

We  must,  however,  bear  in  mind  that  the  apostolic 
epistles  had  been  very  generally  understood  to  teach 
that  the  return  of  Jesus  Christ  would  take  place  very 
speedily.  At  first  it  was  thought  that  the  Lord  would 
return  during  the  lifetime  of  some  of  those  whom  St. 
Paul  addressed.  This  may  be  gathered  from  much  that 
the  Apostle  wrote  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians^ 
— the  first  of  the  New  Testament  writings.  Our  Lord 
had  used  language  that  had  been  understood  by  the 
Apostles  to  mean  that  He  would  come  again  in  their 

^  I  Thess.  i.  lo  ;  iv.  15,  17  ;  v.  2,  23. 
175 


176  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

lifetime  to  take  them  to  Himself.  Had  He  not  said, 
"  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  There  be  some  standing  here, 
which  shall  not  taste  of  death,  till  they  see  the  Son 
of  Man  coming  in  His  kingdom"?^  It  was,  therefore, 
with  some  such  thought  in  his  mind  that  St.  Paul  wrote 
to  reassure  those  who  supposed  that  the  dead  who  had 
already  "  fallen  asleep  "  before  the  Second  Advent  would 
suffer  loss.  "  I  would  not  have  you  to  be  ignorant, 
brethren,  concerning  them  which  are  asleep,  that  ye 
sorrow  not,  even  as  others  which  have  no  hope.  For  if 
we  believe  that  Jesus  died  and  rose  again,  even  so  them 
also  which  sleep  in  Jesus  will  God  bring  with  Him. 
For  this  we  say  unto  you  by  the  word  of  the  Lord,  that 
we  which  are  alive  and  remain  unto  the  coming  of  the 
Lord  shall  not  prevent  them  which  are  asleep.  For  the 
Lord  Himself  shall  descend  from  heaven  with  a  shout, 
with  the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and  with  the  trump 
of  God  :  and  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first :  the^i  we 
which  are  alive  and  revtain  shall  be  caught  up  together 
with  them  in  the  clouds,  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air : 
and  so  shall  we  ever  be  with  the  Lord."^ 

It  seems  that  the  Christian  Thessalonians,  or  some 
among  them,  made  the  anticipation  of  this  speedy 
return  of  their  Lord  an  excuse  for  neglecting  their 
daily  duties  and  living  in  idleness.  St.  Paul,  upon 
hearing  this,  wrote  a  second  epistle  to  the  Thessalonians, 
explaining  that  the  "day  of  Christ"^  might  yet  be 
delayed  for  a  long  time;   and  in  any  case  the  steady 

•^  St.  Matt.  xvi.  28.  2  I  Thess.  iv.  13-17.  ^2  Thess,  ii.  2, 


The   Teaching  of  the  Priinitive  Church      177 

performance  of  the  daily  duties  of  life  was  the  best 
preparation  for  the  Second  Advent. 

But  it  is  beyond  question  that  the  thoughts  of  the 
Apostles  and  their  immediate  successors  were  fixed 
upon  the  great  "  day  of  the  Lord,"  rather  than  upon 
the  state  of  the  soul  awaiting  that  day.  The  Gentiles 
were  already  familiar  with  the  doctrine  that  the  soul 
survived  the  death  of  the  body,  although  there  was 
doubtless  among  all  classes  a  widespread  unbelief  in 
any  future  life.  What  the  Gentile  world  was  not 
familiar  with  was  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  body.  It  was  therefore  upon  the  resurrection, 
and  what  followed  it,  that  the  Apostles  and  great 
Fathers  of  the  post-apostolic  Church  insisted.  The 
Christian  faith  concerned  the  sanctification  of  the  body 
as  well  as  the  soul,  and  the  corruption  of  morals 
prevalent  in  the  heathen  world  made  the  doctrine 
of  the  resurrection  of  the  flesh  a  very  practical  point 
of  dogma. 

It  is  not  meant,  however,  that  there  was  no  essential 
agreement  among  the  sub-apostolic  Fathers  as  to  the 
soul  in  its  intermediate  state.  The  epistles  of  St.  Paul 
had  taught  men  to  think  of  those  who  by  reason  of 
death  were  "  absent  from  the  body "  as  being,  even 
before  the  resurrection,  "  present  with  the  Lord." 
Alford  in  his  learned  Commentary  says,  with  reference 
to  this  statement  by  St.  Paul,  that  this  is  "  all  that  is 
revealed  to  us  of  the  disembodied  state  of  the  righteous." 
The  point,  then,  to  keep  in  mind  is  that  Christ  ascended 

N 


178  The  Soul  ill  the  Unseen  World 

into  Heaven,  and  "  is  set  down  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
throne  of  God."  Christ  as  the  Incarnate  Son  is  not 
omnipresent.  He  is  present  in  His  humanity,  corporally, 
locally,  and  visibly,  only  in  Heaven.  By  His  divinity 
— as  God  the  Son — He  is  of  course— and  always  has 
been  from  the  beginning — present  everywhere ;  His 
Godhead  fills  all  things,  both  in  Heaven  and  earth. 
The  Sacred  Humanity,  on  the  contrary,  can  only  be 
in  one  place  at  a  time,  and  is,  therefore,  locally  in 
Heaven  and  not  elsewhere.  It  would  seem,  then,  that 
so  far  there  is  no  room  for  difference  of  opinion  as 
to  the  intermediate  state  of  the  souls  of  the  righteous, 
but  there  are  in  some  of  the  writings  of  the  early 
Fathers  passages  that  seem  to  contradict  this  doctrine, 
and  to  teach  that  the  soul  cannot  enter  Heaven  until 
after  the  resurrection  of  the  body.  St.  Justin  Martyr 
strongly  denounces  certain  heretical  Christians  who 
in  his  day  taught  that  "  there  is  no  resurrection  of  the 
dead,  but  as  soon  as  men  die  their  souls  are  taken 
up  into  Heaven."  ^  In  another  passage  he  denies  that 
the  soul  is,  strictly  speaking,  immortal ;  and  yet,  "  at 
the  same  time,"  he  continues,  "  I  affirm  that  souls  never 
perish,  for  this  would  be  indeed  a  godsend  to  the 
wicked.  What,  then,  befalls  them  ?  The  souls  of  the 
good  are  consigned  to  a  better  place,  and  those  of 
the  evil  and  unjust  to  a  worse,  there  to  await  the  day 
of  judgment.  Thus  such  as  are  worthy  to  see  God 
die  no  more,  but  others  shall  undergo  punishment  as 

1  Dial.  Tryph,    80. 


The   Teaching  of  the  Primitive  Church     179 

long  as  it  shall  please  Him  that  they  shall  exist  and 
be  punished."  1  Now  although  these  passages  seem 
at  first  sight  to  tell  against  the  belief  that  the  righteous 
are  with  Christ  in  Heaven  before  the  judgment,  yet 
they  do  not  in  reality  necessarily  do  so.  St.  Justin 
Martyr  does  not  so  much  concern  himself  with  what 
name  should  be  given  to  the  "  better  place "  in  which 
the  souls  of  the  righteous  await  the  resurrection  as 
with  the  heresy  which  denied  that  any  resurrection  of 
the  body  was  to  be  looked  for.  In  any  subsequent 
age  of  the  Church  such  an  error  would  have  been 
condemned  in  equally  emphatic — though  differently 
worded — language. 

St.  Irenseus,  however,  certainly  taught  something  very 
like  the  old  Jewish  belief  about  the  souls  of  the  just 
being  excluded  from  Heaven  until  the  resurrection  ; 
but  he  seems  to  be  the  only  Father  whose  language 
on  this  point  admits  of  no  other  interpretation.  It 
must  also  be  borne  in  mind  that  St.  Irenaeus  does  not 
suppose  that  the  souls  of  the  righteous  are  in  Paradise, 
for  he  agrees  with  the  later  Church  in  speaking  of 
Paradise  as  a  part  of  Heaven.  He  writes  :  "  The  Lord 
having  departed  in  the  midst  of  the  shadow  of  death, 
where  the  souls  of  the  dead  were,  afterwards  in  course 
He  rose  again  in  the  body,  and  after  His  resurrection 
was  taken  up :  evidently  the  souls  of  the  disciples  also, 

^  Ibid.  5.  St.  Justin  (with  Tatian)  taught  that  '*  the  soul  is  not  of  its 
own  nature  immortal,"  i.e.  its  immortality  is  a  gift  from  Him  Who  alone 
hath  life  in  Himself,  or  as  St.  Paul  says,  "hath  immortality." 


i8o  The  Sotil  in  the  Unseen  World 

for  whose  sake  indeed  the  Lord  wrought  these  things, 
go  away  into  the  invisible  place  which  is  appointed 
for  them  by  God,  and  there  come  and  go,  awaiting 
the  resurrection,  afterwards  receiving  back  their  bodies, 
and  rising  again  entirely,  i.e.  bodily,  as  the  Lord  Him- 
self arose ;  so  will  they  come  unto  the  Vision  of  God. 
For  none  that  is  a  disciple  is  "  above  his  master,  but 
every  one  that  is  perfect  shall  be  as  his  master."  ^  As 
therefore  our  Master  did  not  straightway  soar  away 
and  depart,  but  awaiting  the  time  of  His  resurrection 
appointed  by  the  Father  (which  also  was  shown  by 
Jonas),  and  after  three  days  arising,  was  taken  up ; 
so  must  we  also  wait  the  time  of  our  resurrection 
appointed  by  God,  foretold  by  the  prophets,  and  after 
that  arise  and  be  taken  up,  as  many  as  our  Lord  shall 
account  worthy  thereof"  ^ 

Such  was  the  teaching  of  St.  Irenaeus.  It  is  not  easy 
to  see  how  this  doctrine  can  be  reconciled  with  the 
words  of  St.  Paul,  except  on  the  supposition  that  the 
Apostle,  when  he  said  that  the  disembodied  souls  of 
the  righteous  were  "  with  Christ,"  meant  no  more  than 
that  they  were  with  Him  in  the  same  sense  that  they 
were  with  Him  on  earth.  Our  Lord  certainly  promised 
that  where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  His 
name  there  He  would  be  in  their  midst,^  but  St.  Paul 
surely  intended    something   more   than   was   promised 

^  St.  Luke  vi.  40. 

^  Against  Heresy y  Book  v,  31. 

2  St.  Matt,  xviii.  20. 


The  Teaching  of  the  Primitive  Church     1 8 1 

to  the  faithful  here  on  earth,  or  he  would  not  have 
said  that  to  "  depart  and  be  with  Christ "  was  "  far 
better  "  than  to  remain  in  the  Church  on  earth. 

However  this  may  be,  St.  Iren<xus  lends  no  support 
to  those  who  speak  of  the  departed  as  excluded  from 
the  Vision  of  God  until  the  resurrection,  and  yet  teach 
that  they  are  already  in  a  place  called  Paradise. 
St.  Irenaeus  is  quite  clear  in  teaching  that  Paradise 
is  a  part  of  Heaven  and  that  those  in  Paradise  enjoy 
the  Vision  of  Jesus  Christ.  According  to  St.  Irenaeus, 
therefore,  the  soul  cannot  enter  Paradise  until  after 
the  resurrection.  He  writes :  "  Now  when  this  fashion 
{i.e.  this  world)  is  passed  away,  and  man  is  made 
young  again,  and  hath  become  ripe  for  incorruption, 
so  as  never  more  to  be  susceptible  of  decay  from  age, 
there  shall  be  the  new  heaven  and  the  new  earth :  in 
them,  being  new,  shall  man  abide  always  new,  and 
in  communion  with  God.  .  .  .  And  as  the  elders  say, 
then  also  both  those  who  are  deemed  meet  for  the 
heavenly  abode  shall  depart  thither,  and  others  shall 
enjoy  the  deliciousness  of  Paradise,  and  others  possess 
the  brightness  of  the  city  ;  for  in  every  place  shall 
the  Saviour  be  seen,  according  as  they  who  see  Him 
shall  be  worthy. 

"And  this  is  the  distinction  of  the  abode  of  those 
who  bear  fruit,  some  an  hundred  fold,  some  sixty, 
some  thirty  :  whereof  the  one  sort  shall  be  taken  up 
into  the  heavens,  the  next  shall  abide  in  Paradise, 
others  again  shall  inherit  the  city :   and   that  on   this 


1 82  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

account  the  Lord   said,  "'In    My  Father's   house   are 
many  mansions.' "  ^ 

Tertullian  agrees  in  the  main  with  the  teaching  of 
Justin  Martyr  and  St.  Irenseus  on  the  intermediate 
state  of  the  soul,  but  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  on 
this  subject  these  early  Fathers  do  not  speak  dogmatic- 
ally;  the  Church  had  not  spoken,  and  each  Father 
was  more  or  less  free  to  follow  his  own  interpretation 
of  Scripture,  aided  no  doubt  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 
Thus  Tertullian,  while  he  excludes  all  those  who  die 
in  the  Lord  from  Paradise  until  after  the  resurrection, 
makes  an  exception  in  the  case  of  martyrs,  who,  he 
says,  go  at  once  to  Paradise  instead  of  to  Hades,  and 
are  with  Christ.^  We  find,  then,  from  the  very  first 
that  some  at  least  of  the  faithful  departed  were  thought 
of  as  admitted  to  the  immediate  presence  of  their  Lord, 
and  that  they  were  spoken  of  as  being  in  Paradise 
— a  state  distinct  from  that  in  which  the  rest  of  the 
dead  in  Christ  awaited  their  reward. 

1  Against  Heresy,  Book  v.  36.  St.  Irenoeus  adds :  "This  is  the  couch  with 
three  compartments,  on  which  shall  recline  all  who  feast  having  been 
invited  to  the  marriage." 

^  "  Nemo  enim  peregrinatus  a  corpore  statim  immoratur  penes  Dominum, 
nisi  ex  martyrii  proerogativa  paradiso  scilicet,  non  inferis,  deversurus." — De 
Resurr.  Carnis,  c.  43.  See  also  S.  Cyprian,  De  Exhort.  Martyr.  Again 
we  note  the  distinction  between  Paradise  as  part  of  Heaven,  and  the 
nether  world  in  the  following  passage  :  ' '  We  learn  from  the  Scriptures  that 
the  souls  of  sinners  are  in  Hades.  .  .  .  But  the  souls  of  the  just,  after  the 
coming  of  Christ  (as  we  learn  from  the  robber  on  the  cross)  are  in  Paradise. 
For  Christ  our  God  did  not  open  Paradise  for  the  soul  of  the  holy  robber 
alone,  but  for  the  souls  of  all  the  holy  thereafter." — Qticestt.  ad  Aiittoch, 
p.  19,  in  St,  Athanasius  0pp.  ii.  272, 


The   Teaching  of  the  Primitive  Chtirch     i8 


-1 


In  passing  from  the  second  to  the  third  century  we 
find  St.  Cyprian  encouraging  his  people  not  to  fear 
death.  He  writes :  "  Let  us  embrace  the  day  which 
commits  each  of  us  to  his  own  resting-place ;  which, 
after  rescuing  us  hence  .  .  .  places  us  back  in  Paradise, 
and  in  the  heavenly  kingdom.  .  .  .  Paradise  we  are  to 
reckon  our  native  land  {patriam)]'^  patriarchs  are  now 
our  parents :  wherefore  not  haste  and  run,  to  behold 
our  country,  to  salute  our  parents?  .  .  .  O  sweet, 
heavenly  realms,  where  death  can  never  terrify,  and 
life  never  end  !  Ah,  perfect  and  perpetual  bliss  !  There 
is  the  glorious  company  of  the  apostles :  there  is  the 
assembly  of  prophets  exulting:  there  is  the  innumerable 
company  of  martyrs,  crowned  after  their  victory  and 
passion.  .  .  .  To  these,  dearest  brethren,  let  us  with 
eager  longings  hasten  :  let  it  be  the  portion  which  we 
desire,  speedily  to  be  among  them,  speedily  to  be  gone 
to  Christ."  2 

The  great  Fathers  of  the  fourth  century  are  still 
clearer,  yet  even  in  their  writings  we  must  not  expect 
to  find,  any  more  than  in  those  of  the  earlier  writers, 
any  absolute  agreement  in  either  their  teaching  or 
terminology  about  the  future  state.  They  so  persistently 
dwell  upon  the  glory  of  the  risen  life  that  it  is  not  at  all 
easy  to  find  out  exactly  what  they  believed  was  the 

^  In  the  collect  of  the  Missale  Romanutii  said  at  a  Requiem,  in  die 
obitus^  this  expression  is  used  ;  it  is  prayed  that  the  angels  may  conduct 
the  departed  "to  the  native  land  of  paradise"  {ad  patriam  paradisi). 

?  De  Mort.  20,  written  a.d,  252. 


184  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

condition  of  the  soul  before  the  resurrection.  Indeed, 
not  only  do  they  show  that  in  minor  points  there  were 
different  beliefs  in  the  Church,  but  we  not  infrequently 
find  a  Father  in  one  passage  of  his  works  apparently 
contradicting  what  he  seems  to  teach  in  another.  It  is 
only  possible  to  refer  to  one  or  two  out  of  the  many 
Fathers  who  might  be  quoted. 

St.  John  Chrysostom  writes :  "  Let  us  then  not 
simply  grieve  for  the  dead,  nor  joy  for  the  living  simply. 
But  how?  Let  us  grieve  for  sinners,  not  only  for  the 
dead,  but  also  for  the  living.  Let  us  joy  for  the  just, 
not  only  the  living,  but  also  the  dead.  For  those 
though  living  are  dead,  while  these  although  dead,  yet 
live;  those  even  while  they  are  here  are  to  be  pitied 
of  all,  because  they  are  at  enmity  with  God ;  the  others, 
even  when  they  have  departed  thither,  are  blessed, 
because  they  are  gone  to  Christ.  Sinners,  wherever  they 
are,  are  far  from  the  King,  and  therefore  are  subjects 
for  tears;  while  the  just,  be  they  here,  or  be  they  there, 
are  with  the  King;  there  indeed  in  a  higher  and  nearer 
degree,  not  through  a  figure,  or  by  faith,  but,  as  the 
Apostle  says,  'face  to  face."'^ 

Here  St.  John  Chrysostom  plainly  asserts  his  belief 
that  the  righteous  are  after  this  life  not  excluded  from 
the  Vision  of  their  Lord,  but  are  before  the  resurrection 
"with  Christ." 

In  his  commentary  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans 
St.  John  Chrysostom  says,  "  Paul  was  a  man,  partaking 

^  Horn,  iii,,  on  Phil.  i.  24.  , 


The  Teaching  of  the  Primitive  Chzirch     185 

of  the  same  nature  with  us.  .  .  .  But  because  he  shewed 
such  great  love  towards  Christ,  he  went  up  above  the 
heavens,  and  stood  with  the  angels.  And  so  if  we  too 
would  rouse  ourselves  up  some  little,  and  kindle  in 
ourselves  that  fire,  we  shall  be  able  to  emulate  that 
holy  man.  .  .  .  Let  us,  then,  not  admire  him  only,  but 
imitate  him,  that  we  too  may,  when  we  depart  hence, 
be  counted  worthy  to  see  him,  and  to  share  the  glory 
unutterable,  which  God  grant  we  may  all  attain  to  by 
the  grace  .  .  .  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  .  .  ."^ 

In  contrast  to  those  Fathers  who  speak  of  Paradise 
as  an  inferior  part  of  Heaven,  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  in 
his  Lectures  teaches  that  Paradise  is  one  of  the  higher 
of  the  many  mansions.  "If,"  he  says,  "  Elias  attained 
as  far  as  the  first  heaven,  but  Paul  as  far  as  the  third, 
the  latter  has  doubtless  obtained  a  more  honourable 
dignity.  Be  not  ashamed  of  thine  Apostles;  they  are 
not  inferior  to  Moses,  or  behind  the  prophets ;  but  they 
are  noble  with  the  noble,  yea,  than  the  noble  yet  more 
noble.  For  Elias  truly  was  taken  up  into  heaven  ;  but 
Peter  has  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  .  .  .  Elias 
was  taken  up  only  to  heaven  ;  but  Paul  both  into 
heaven  and  into  Paradise  (for  it  behoved  the  disciple 
of  Jesus  to  receive  more  manifold  grace) :  .  .  .  Paul 
descended  from  above,  not  because  he  was  unworthy  to 
abide  in  the  third  heaven,  but  in  order  .  .  .  that  he 
might  receive  the  crown  of  martyrdom."  ^ 

In  different  passages  of  the  voluminous  writings  of 

^  Horn,  xxxii,  conclusion.  '^  Catech.  Led,  xiv.  26. 


1 86  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  WoiHd 

St.  Augustine  we  find  it  difficult  to  reconcile  his 
teaching  as  to  the  intermediate  state.  At  one  time 
he  writes  that  "  the  interval  between  the  death  of  man 
and  the  last  resurrection,  holds  the  soul  in  hidden 
receptacles,  as  each  is  worthy  of  rest  or  of  misery, 
according  to  that  which  it  hath  gotten  in  the  body  when 
alive  ";^  at  another  time  he  speaks  of  the  souls  of  the 
just  as  "able  in  that  heaven  ineffably  to  see  .  .  .  the 
very  substance  of  God,  and  God  the  Word,  by  Whom 
all  things  were  made,  in  the  Love  of  the  Holy  Spirit."^ 
St.  Augustine  thinks  that  it  is  likely  that  Abraham's 
Bosom,  Paradise,  and  the  third  Heaven,  are  different 
names  for  one  and  the  same  place,  and  that  the  souls 
of  the  faithful  may  be  spoken  of  as  awaiting  the  resur- 
rection in  a  state  to  which  either  of  these  names  is 
suitable.  St.  Augustine  is  not  consistent  in  his  teaching 
as  to  whether  the  Beatific  Vision  is  granted  before  the 
resurrection;  at  one  time  he  is  doubtful,  while  at  another 
he  is  quite  clear  that  those  in  Paradise  enjoy  the  Vision 
of  God.  Other  Fathers  speak  of  the  soul  before  the 
resurrection  as  being  "with  Christ,"  and  in  Him  seeing 
God.  Thus  St.  Hilary  distinguishes  between  the 
"  kingdom  of  the  Lord,"  in  which  the  saints  are  with 
Christ  until  the  resurrection,  and  "the  kingdom  of 
God,"  "  the  eternal  kingdom,"  "  the  heavenly  kingdom," 
and  "  the  eternal  and  blessed  kingdom,"  into  which 
they  are  admitted  after  the  resurrection,  advancing  to 
the  kingdom  of  the  Father  by  the   kingdom  of   the 

^  Enchir.  chap.  cix. ;  De  Civ.  Dei.  xii.  9.    St.  Thomas  Aquinas  interprets 
these  "  receptacles"  as  heavenly  places.      '^  De  Gen.  ad  Litt.  xii,  34,  §  67. 


The  Teaching  of  the  Primitive  Church     187 

Son,  and  so  being  admitted  to  the  Vision  of  God — to 
the  contemplation  of  the  divine  glory. 

Dr.  Pusey  writes,  at  the  close  of  his  examination  of 
the  teaching  of  the  Fathers  on  Paradise,  "  In  the  main, 
then,  all  this  harmonises  together :  that  .they  are  at 
rest ;  with  the  Lord ;  in  His  keeping ;  seeing  Him 
(though  we  know  not  the  place  which  Scripture  desig- 
nates as  'Paradise,'  or  'Abraham's  Bosom,'  or  'the  Altar'), 
yet  not  seeing  God  as  they  shall  see  Flim  after  the 
resurrection,  nor  having  as  yet  their  full  reward." 

The  following  words  of  St.  Augustine  perhaps  repre- 
sent the  sum  of  what  was  believed  as  to  the  intermediate 
state  of  the  perfectly  righteous,  between  their  death  and 
the  resurrection  :  "  Where  are  those  saints,  think  we  ? 
There  where  it  is  well.  What  seekest  thou  more?  Thou 
knowest  not  the  place,  but  think  of  their  desert. 
Wherever  they  are,  they  are  with  God — 'The  souls  of 
the  righteous  are  in  the  hand  of  God.' "  ^ 

Here  it  may  be  well  to  ask  if  there  is  anything  in 
the  early  Fathers  to  lead  us  to  suppose  that  they 
believed  the  living  on  earth  had  communion  with  the 
souls  of  the  departed  saints.  The  Article  in  the 
Apostles'  Creed  "  I  believe  in  the  Communion  of 
Saints "  is  first  found  in  a  sermon  preached  in  490 
— the  close  of  the  fifth  century.  Why  was  this  Article 
introduced  into  the  Creed  at  this  late  date  ?  We 
cannot  be  quite  positive,  but  there  is  every  reason  to 
suppose  that  it  was  added  to  ensure  the  acceptance  of 

^  Serm.  298  in  Nat.  Apost.  Pet.  et  Paul.  iv. 


1 88  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

some  truth  hitherto  commonly  believed,  but  lately  the 
subject  of  attack.  It  is  certain  that  the  heretical 
Vigilantius  condemned  many  acts  of  devotion  towards 
the  saints  that  were  in  his  day  universally  practised 
throughout  the  Church.  What  these  practices  were 
we  know  from  the  fiery  defence  of  them  by  St. 
Jerome  in  his  well-known  treatise  Against  Vigilantius. 
Vigilantius  had  denounced  many  customs  prevalent 
in  the  Church,  but  all  these  are  not  our  concern. 
We  need  only  notice  those  that  throw  light  on  the 
attitude  of  the  Church  towards  the  saints — that  is, 
towards  those  who,  on  account  of  martyrdom  or 
eminent  holiness,  were  thought  of  as  certainly  in 
Paradise.  For  all  the  righteous  dead  there  was  a 
good  hope  that  they  were  with  the  saints,  but  this 
hope  did  not  warrant  the  Church  in  paying  to  them 
those  outward  marks  of  respect  which  she  freely 
rendered  to  her  martyrs  and  confessors. 

St.  Jerome  therefore  vigorously  defends  the  venera- 
tion shown  to  the  relics  of  the  saints,  and  such  outward 
observances  as  visiting  their  shrines  and  burning  tapers 
at  their  tombs.  He  indignantly  asks,  "  Do  we,  every 
time  that  we  enter  the  basilicas  of  the  apostles  and  the 
prophets,  as  well  as  of  the  martyrs,  pay  homage  to 
the  shrines  of  idols  ?  Are  the  tapers  which  burn  at 
their  tombs  only  the  tokens  of  idolatry  ?  Madman, 
who  in  the  world  ever  adored  the  martyrs  ?  Who  ever 
thought  that  man  was  God  ? "  Vigilantius  not  only 
condemned  these  usages,  but  also  denied  that  the  saints 


The  Teaching  of  the  Primitive  Church     189 

in  Heaven  pray  for  those  on  earth.  This  being  his 
beHef,  he  naturally  would  have  held  that  it  was  use- 
less to  ask  the  saints  for  their  prayers.  It  by  no 
means  necessarily  follows  that  because  the  saints  in 
Paradise  pray  for  the  Church  on  earth,  therefore  it  is 
the  duty  of  individual  members  of  the  Church  militant 
to  invoke  the  prayers  of  the  saints  ;  but  what  we  seek 
to  know  is,  whether  any  such  custom  was  known  and 
approved  in  the  primitive  Church.  Now,  as  we  shall 
see,  there  is  no  doubt  at  all  that  in  the  fourth  century 
the  custom  of  invoking  the  saints  was  universal,  and 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  addition  to  the 
Apostles'  Creed  of  the  Article  "  I  believe  in  the  Com- 
munion of  Saints"  was  intended  to  cover  this  practice,  as 
well  as  to  emphasise  the  fellowship  that  those  in  the 
Church  on  earth  have  one  with  another,  and  with  their 
brethren  who  have  gone  before  into  the  unseen  world.  1 

As  the  custom  of  invoking  the  saints  was  confessedly 
universal  in  and  after  the  fourth  century,  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  quote  more  than  one  or  two  references  to  the 
practice  ^  from  the  writings  of  the  Fathers. 

^  Bishop  Pearson,  in  his  book  On  the  Creed,  Art.  ix.,  says:  "The 
Saints  of  God,  living  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  are  in  communion  with  all 
Saints  departed  out  of  this  life  and  admitttd  to  the  presence  of  God.'^  He 
adds  in  a  note,  "  This  is  that  part  of  the  Communion  of  Saints  which 
those  of  the  ancients  especially  insisted  on  who  first  took  notice  of  it 
in  the  Creed." 

The  Lutheran  Professor,  Dr.  Harnack,  quotes  the  earliest  commen- 
tary on  this  Article  of  the  Creed  by  Faustus  of  Riez  (a.d.  490),  who  said 
this  Article  was  aimed  against  those  who  denied  the  cultus  of  the  saints. 

^  It  should  be  noted  that  the  invocation  of  saints  is  not  a  doctrine^  but 
a  practice. 


190  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

St.  John  Chrysostom,  in  his  homilies  on  the  Second 
Epistle  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Corinthians,  says  :  "  The  tombs 
of  the  servants  of  the  Crucified  are  more  splendid  than 
the  palaces  of  kings  ;  not  for  the  size  and  beauty  of  the 
buildings  (yet  even  in  this  they  surpass  them),  but, 
what  is  more,  in  the  zeal  of  those  who  frequent  them. 
For  he  that  wears  the  purple  [the  Emperor]  goes  to 
embrace  those  tombs,  and,  laying  aside  his  pride,  stands 
begging  the  saints  to  be  his  advocates  with  God  ;  and 
he  that  wears  the  diadem  implores  the  tentmaker  and 
the  fisherman,  though  dead,  to  be  his  patrons.  Wilt 
thou  dare  then  tell  me  to  call  the  Lord  of  these,  dead. 
Whose  servants,  even  after  their  decease,  are  the  patrons 
of  the  kings  of  the  world  ?  " 

Again,  after  advising  the  people  to  be  zealous  for 
their  own  salvation,  and  not  to  trust  to  the  help  of 
others,  he  adds :  "  And  this  I  say,  not  that  we  may 
omit  supplicating  the  saints,  but  to  hinder  our  being 
careless,  and  entrusting  our  concerns  to  others  only, 
while  we  fall  back  and  slumber  ourselves." 

St.  Augustine,  the  great  Doctor  of  the  Church,  has 
written  much  that  bears  on  the  subject  in  his  treatise 
De  cur  a  pro  mortuis.  In  answer  to  the  question 
whether  the  dead  were  benefited  by  their  bodies  being 
buried  at,  or  near,  the  tombs  of  the  martyrs,  St. 
Augustine  replies :  "  I  do  not  see  what  help  this  can 
be  to  the  dead  except  in  this  way :  that  upon  recollec- 
tion of  the  place  in  which  are  deposited  the  bodies  of 
those  whom  they  love,  they  should  by  prayer  commend 


The  Teaching  of  the  Primitive  Church     191 

them  to  those  same  saints,  who  have  as  patrons  taken 
them  into  their  charge  to  aid  them  before  the  Lord.  .  .  , 
When  then  the  mind  recollects  where  the  body  of  a 
very  dear  friend  lies  buried,  and  thereupon  there  occurs 
the  thought  of  a  place  rendered  venerable  by  the  name 
of  a  martyr,  to  that  same  martyr  doth  it  commend  the 
soul  in  affection  of  heartfelt  recollection  and  prayer." 

It  cannot  be  supposed  that  a  custom  so  widespread 
and  so  completely  taken  for  granted  was  a  novelty 
in  the  fourth  century,  but  it  is  remarkable  that  in  the 
preceding  centuries  there  is  no  proof  obtainable  of 
the  invocation  of  the  departed  saints.  There  are,  of 
course,  many  passages  in  the  earlier  Fathers  showing 
that  they  believed  the  saints  offered  prayers  for  those 
on  earth,  and  there  are  examples  of  men  asking  those 
near  death  to  pray  for  them  when  they  were  in  the 
presence  of  God,  and  of  others  praying  to  God  to 
bestow  some  favour  for  the  sake  of  His  saints  and  at 
their  prayer.  These  passages  are,  however,  beside  the 
mark,  and  cannot  be  quoted  as  supporting  the  in- 
vocation of  departed  saints.  No  instance  can  be  found 
in  Holy  Scripture  of  such  invocation,  and  no  reference 
to  the  guardianship  of  the  angels  seems  sufficiently  to 
touch  upon  the  question  to  be  adduced  in  support 
of  direct  invocation,  not  of  angels,  but  of  saints.  The 
fact  that  the  invocation  of  saints  was  customary  in 
the  Church  from  the  fourth  century  to  the  sixteenth, 
and  that  to  this  day  the  practice  prevails  throughout 
the  whole  Church  with  the  solitary  exception  of  the 


192  The  Sold  in  the   Unseen    Woidd 

Anglican  communion  is  a  very  strong  argument  in 
support  of  the  practice,  but  lacking  all  clear  evidence 
in  Holy  Scripture,  and  in  the  Church  during  the  first 
three  centuries,  it  can  hardly  be  considered  as  an 
essential  part  of  Christian  piety.  Moreover  there  can 
be  no  question  that  in  the  mediaeval  Church  the 
invocation  of  the  saints  led  to  great  abuses ;  and  it  is 
to  be  feared  that  these  abuses  are  still  prevalent  in 
the  modern  Church  of  Rome.  It  is  quite  commonly 
taught  by  the  school  of  which  the  late  Father  Faber 
was  an  apostle,^  that  devotion  to  Mary  is  an  essential 
of  Christian  life.  Dr.  Newman  indeed  disclaimed  the 
invocation  of  our  Lady  as  necessary  to  salvation  ;  for, 
as  a  student  of  the  Fathers,  he  knew  that  there  was  no 
sign  of  such  a  belief  to  be  found  in  the  early  Church 
or  in  the  great  Fathers  that  have  been  already  quoted 
as  teaching  the  invocation  of  saints.  Dr.  Newman 
says,  speaking  of  the  invocation  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
Mary  as  being  thought  necessary  to  salvation,  "  If  it 
were  so,  there  would  be  grave  reason  for  doubting 
of  the  salvation  of  St.  Chrysostom  or  St.  Augustine, 
or  of  the  primitive  martyrs.  Nay,  I  should  like  to 
know  if  St.  Augustine,  in  all  his  voluminous  writings, 
invokes  her  once." 

■^  There  are  schools  of  thought  in  the  Church  of  Rome  as  well  as  in  the 
Church  of  England.  In  each  communion  the  schools  differ  on  questions 
doctrinal  and  practical  on  which  there  is  thought  to  be  no  dogmatic  or 
moral  teaching  binding  upon  the  Church.  In  the  Church  of  England 
these  points  are  more  numerous,  because  many  doctrinal  matters  are  left 
open  which  are  decided  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.   • 


The  Teaching  of  the  Primitive  Church      193 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  among  the  more 
ignorant  the  tendency  has  been,  and  is,  to  look  upon 
the  saints  as  more  likely  than  our  Lord  to  help  those 
in  need  ;  and  this  perversion  of  the  truth  must  be  in 
some  degree  destructive  of  the  faith  of  the  Gospel, 
which  is  the  revelation  of  God  as  infinite  Love. 

If  the  invocation  of  saints  had  meant  no  more  than 
desiring  their  prayers — the  saying  to  a  saint,  Ora  pro 
nobis  —  there  would  have  been  no  such  danger,  but 
anyone  who  has  the  least  acquaintance  with  the 
devotional  literature  of  the  Roman  Church,  or  with 
her  practical  system,  knows  how  very  far  beyond  this 
the  cultus  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary  and  other  saints 
is  carried.  When  we  find  a  representative  man  like 
the  late  Father  Faber  writing  such  a  passage  as  the 
following,  we  cannot  but  feel  that  he  has  gone  far  to 
justify  the  Anglican  Reformers  in  removing  all 
invocation  of  saints  from  the  Offices  of  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer.  In  his  treatise,  On  the  Interest 
and  Characteristics  of  the  Lives  of  the  Saints,  Faber 
writes  :  "  This  doctrine  of  Sacchus  may  minister  con- 
solation to  some  who  have  been  afflicted  by  the 
circumstances  under  which  their  friends  or  relatives, 
recently  converted,  have  died.  Converts,  professing  a 
warm  and  ardent  devotion  to  our  Blessed  Lady  and 
St.  Joseph,  have  drawn  near  to  their  end,  and  in  that 
last  hour  our  Blessed  Lady  seems  to  be  passed  over, 
or  certain  adjuncts  of  Catholic  devotion,  such  as  the 
frequent  sprinkling  of  the  bed  with  holy  water,  not 
o 


194  '^h^  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

to  be  rightly  valued.  What  was  uppermost  in  their 
devotional  conversation  when  well,  hardly  makes  its 
appearance  at  that  solemn  crisis,  and  the  religious 
feelings  actually  expressed  are  such  as  might  be 
expected  from  a  pious  Protestant  dying  in  good  faith, 
the  desire  of  the  Sacraments  always  excepted.  We 
know  the  case  of  a  person  who  was  supposed  to  be 
in  his  last  agony,  and  who,  during  the  few  months 
that  had  elapsed  since  his  conversion,  seemed  to  have 
a  strong  devotion  to  the  Mother  of  God,  and  especially 
to  her  Immaculate  Conception ;  and  yet,  when  he  was 
assured  he  had  but  a  few  minutes  to  live,  and  he  was 
already  facing,  as  best  he  could,  the  eternal  judgments, 
he  never  called  on  our  Blessed  Lady,  nor  alluded  to 
her  existence.  He  seemed  to  see  nothing  before  hint 
but  God,  and  what  was  distinct  was  rather  even  the 
Person  of  the  Eternal  Father  than  of  our  dearest 
Lord.  Now  this  is  often  painful  to  Catholic  friends. 
A  cold,  chilling  doubt  comes,  whether  after  all  the 
faith  of  the  departed  was  right,  whether  there  were 
not  some  lingerings  of  old  heresy,  that  evil  spirit  once 
exorcised,  or  whether  from  bad  confessions  or  some 
secret  fall  in  the  incommunicable  temptations  of  that  last 
hour  he  had  become  Satan's  prey,  or  whether  he  had  not 
been  insincere  and  hypocritical  in  his  loud  professions 
of  orthodox  devotion  when  in  health."  Faber  goes  on 
to  state  that  "the  true  account  of  the  matter  is  that 
these  persons  have  not  been  long  enough  in  the  Church 
to  have  acquired  complete  habits  of  Catholic  devotion." 


The   Teaching  of  the  Primitive  Church     195 

Comment  on  this  teaching  is  needless.  The  fact 
of  a  man  in  his  dying  hour  being  able  to  fix  his 
thoughts  on  the  Creator  instead  of  on  a  creature  is 
thought  sufficient  to  justify  the  suspicion  of  heresy,  or 
of  his  having  become  the  prey  of  Satan ! 

To  see  God  in  the  Beatific  Vision  is,  we  are  taught, 
the  supreme  beatitude  of  heaven,  but,  according  to 
Faber,  for  a  dying  Roman  Catholic  to  anticipate  in 
some  measure  this  happiness  is  suggestive  of  terrible 
doubts  as  to  his  orthodoxy,  and  can  only  be  excused  on 
the  ground  that  the  dying  man  had  not  been  "  long 
enough  in  the  Church  to  have  acquired  complete  habits 
of  Catholic  devotion  " !  Does  this  excuse  hold  good 
for  St.  Stephen  the  first  martyr?  Are  we  to  suppose 
that  it  was  owing  to  his  short  life  in  the  Catholic 
Church  that  in  his  dying  hour  he  "saw  the  glory  of  God, 
and  Jesus  standing  on  the  right  hand  of  God  "  ?  Can 
we  think  that  if  the  life  of  the  proto-martyr  had  been 
prolonged  until  after  the  death  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  he 
would  have  died — not  "  calling  upon  God  "  but — seeing 
only  Mary  and  Joseph  and  calling  upon  them?^  Such 
an  idea  is  repulsive  in  the  extreme,  and  emphasises  the 
gulf  that  separates  the  school  of  Romanists  represented 
by  Faber  from  the  Catholic  faith  and  practice  of  the 
apostolic  Church.     It  would,  however,  be  most  unfair 

^  Dr.  Pusey,  who  certainly  knew  the  Fathers  and  the  history  of  the 
Church,  writes  in  a  note  in  his  book  An  Eirenicon,  p.  iio  (1865),  "In 
no  instance,  among  the  genuine  Acts  of  Martyrs^  edited  by  Ruinart,  is 
any  martyr  related  to  have  asked  for  help  amidst  those  super-human 
sufferings,  or  p.thejwise,  except  from  God  generally,  or  from  our  Lord." 


196  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

to  say  that  in  this  matter  Faber  represents  the  teaching 
of  the  whole  Roman  communion :  he,  at  the  most, 
represents  only  a  school  of  thought  within  the  Church 
of  Rome. 

As  we  have  said,  if  Faber's  teaching  on  this  point 
were  the  logical  outcome  of  any  sort  of  invocation  of 
saints,  then  our  Reformers  did  well  to  remove  all  such 
invocations  from  our  Offices.  Fortunately,  we  know 
from  the  study  of  the  early  Fathers  that  no  such  teach- 
ing can  be  associated  with  the  invocation  of  the  saints 
as  practised  in  the  early  Church.  The  Catholic  custom 
of  asking  the  saints  to  "  pray  for  us  "  is  quite  distinct 
from  "  the  Romish  doctrine  of  the  invocation  of  saints  " 
condemned  in  our  Articles  of  Religion.^ 

^  Anglican  Divines  so  different  in  many  ways  as  Bishops  Harold 
Browne  and  Forbes  of  Brechin  agree  that  the  mere  asking  the  prayers  of 
the  Saints  as  we  ask  them  from  friends  on  earth  was  not  the  practice  con- 
demned in  Article  XXII.  Bp.  Harold  Browne  {Art.  XXII.  §  ii.  3) 
says  that  if  the  custom  of  invoking  ' '  had  stopped  here  " — i.  e.  at  saying 
Ora  pro  nobis — "it  would  have  never  been  censured.  But  who  will 
say  that  Romish  Saint-worship  is  no  more  ?  "  Bp.  Forbes  {Art.  XXII.  v. 
p.  421),  after  saying  that  Romanists  often  maintain  that  their  prayers  to 
the  saints  are  "the  same  in  kind  as  the  prayers  to  the  saints  on  earth," 
adds,  "  Had  this  been  all,  the  Article  never  could  have  been  written."  He 
goes  on  to  show  that  our  Reformers  and  best  Divines  saw  nothing  to 
reject  in  such  petitions.  There  are  no  direct  invocations  in  the  early 
Liturgies,  and  hence  there  are  none  in  our  Book  of  Common  Prayer, 


XI. 


Ipraijer  for  tbe  2)eparteb 
in  tbe  primitive  Cburcb 


"In  the  Book  of  the  Maccabees  we  read  of  sacrifice  offered  for 
the  dead.  Howbeit,  even  if  it  were  nowhere  at  all  read  in  the  Old 
Scriptures,  not  small  is  the  authority,  which  in  this  usage  is  clear, 
of  the  whole  Church,  namely,  that  in  the  prayers  of  the  priest 
which  are  offered  to  the  Lord  God  at  the  altar,  the  commendation 
of  the  dead  hath  also  its  place.  ...  If  we  cared  not  for  the 
dead,  we  should  not,  as  we  do,  supplicate  God  on  their  behalf." — 
St.  Augustine  of  Hippo. 


XL 

prater  tor  tbe  Beparteb  in  the  primtttve  Cburcb 

To  pray  seems  to  be  an  instinct  of  human  nature, 
and  prayer  for  the  welfare  of  others  has  always 
held  a  place  among  the  petitions  offered  to  the  Supreme 
Being.  In  all  ages  those  who  believed  that  there  is 
a  life  after  death,  and  that  the  soul  survives  its  separa- 
tion from  the  body,  have,  as  far  as  we  know,  always 
continued  to  pray  or  perform  sacred  rites  for  their 
friends  who  had  passed  through  death  into  the  life  of 
the  unseen  world.  Thus  we  find  that  what  are  called 
"  prayers  for  the  dead "  are  by  no  means  found  only 
among  Christians,  but  that,  like  much  else,  they  came 
to  the  Church  of  Christ  through  the  Jewish  Church,  and 
were  in  common  use  among  all  the  religions  of  an- 
tiquity. Christianity,  it  must  be  remembered,  is  not  an 
entirely  new  religion  dating  from  the  day  of  Pentecost 
— nine  days  after  the  Ascension  of  Jesus  Christ.  Pente- 
cost was  the  birthday  of  the  Christian  Church  as  a 
distinct  organism,  but  the  Christian  faith  was  only  in 
a  comparatively  few  points  a  new  revelation.     Without 

denying  that  God  was  in  some  sense  the  Author  of  all 

199 


200  The  Sottl  in  the  Unseen  World 

religions  in  so  far  as  they  contained  truth,  there  can  be 
no  question  among  those  who  look  upon  the  Bible  as 
enshrining  the  Word  of  God  that  Judaism  was  as  truly 
the  Church  of  God  before  Pentecost  as  the  Christian 
Church  was  after  that  day.  We  cannot,  therefore, 
expect  to  find  an  explicit  revelation  given  to  Christi- 
anity on  points  that  were  already  familiar  to  the  Jews. 
As  there  was  nothing  in  prayer  for  the  souls  of  the 
departed  that  could  in  any  way  offend  the  Christian 
conscience,  we  find  no  suggestion  in  any  of  the  Fathers 
of  the  sub-apostolic  Church  that  such  prayers  were 
forbidden ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  we  find  that  from  the 
very  first  they  were  continued  in  the  Church  of  Christ. 
The  only  objection  that  was  ever  made  in  early  times 
to  such  prayers  came  from  one  who  was  confessedly 
a  heretic.^  Hence  prayers  for  the  departed  are  found 
in  every  Liturgy  of  the  early  Church,  and  every  refer- 
ence to  such  petitions  in  the  Fathers  takes  for  granted 
that  prayer  for  the  souls  of  the  dead  is  as  much  a 
Christian  duty  as  prayer  for  those  living  on  earth. 

Tertullian — who  was  born  in  i6o,  about  thirty  years 
after  the  death  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist  ^ — speaks  of 
the  custom  of  praying  for  the  dead  as  well  known  and 
long  established  in  his  day.  .He  says  in  his  defence 
of  Christian    usages  :    *'  We   offer,    on    one    day   every 

^  The  Arian  heretic  ^rius.     See  St.  Aug.  De  Hicj'es.,  n.  53,  t.   viii. 

P-  55. 

^  Dr.  Newman  speaks  of  '*  St.  John  dying  within  thirty  or  forty  years  of 
St.  Justin's  conversion  and  TertulHan's  birth." — A  Letter  to  Dr.  Pusey  on 
his  recent  ^'  Eirenuon^^^  p.  40  (1866). 


Prayer  for  the  Departed  201 

year,  oblations  \i.e.  the  Eucharist]  for  the  dead  as 
birthday  honours."  ^  Again,  TertuUian  speaks  of  a 
widow  praying  for  the  soul  of  her  husband,  and  asking 
that  until  the  resurrection  he  may  be  in  a  place  of 
cool  refreshment.^  The  same  prayer  occurs  in  the 
inscriptions  found  in  the  catacombs. 

It  would,  then,  require  a  volume  instead  of  a  chapter 
to  consider  the  references  in  the  writings  of  the  Fathers 
that  touch  upon  the  duty  of  the  living  to  pray  for 
the  dead.  All  that  is  possible  here  is  to  find  out  for 
whom  among  the  departed  prayer  was  offered — whether 
for  all,  or  only  for  those  who  were  thought  of  as 
having  died  in  the  grace  and  favour  of  God ;  what 
were  the  benefits  to  the  departed  sought  for  in  these 
prayers ;  and  lastly,  where  was  it  supposed  that  the 
souls  were  abiding  for  whom  the  prayers  of  the  Church 
were  asked — were  they  in  Heaven  or  in  Hades  ? 

I.  In  trying  to  answer  the  question,  "For  whom 
among  the  departed  were  the  prayers  of  the  Church 
desired  in  the  early  centuries?"  we  have  to  remember 
that  God  alone  can  know  the  real  spiritual  condition 
of  any  soul  when  it  passes  out  of  this  world. 

"He  that  judgeth  ...  is  the  Lord,"^  wrote  St.  Paul, 
and  the  same  Apostle  forbids  any  man  to  judge  his 
brother  in  things  spiritual,  until  such  time  as  he  can 
form  a  correct  estimate.    This  will  only  become  possible 

^  De  Cor.  v.  3.     This  most  probably,  however,  refers  to  commemora- 
tion of  the  martyrs  on  their  feasts. 

■^  Refrigerium  is  the  word  used.  ^  i  Cor.  iv.  4. 


202  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

when  in  the  final  judgment  all  things  shall  be  made 
manifest.  Here  on  earth  we  can  only  form  an  opinion 
from  what  we  see  and  hear.  We  cannot  see  the  heart ; 
we  cannot  always  be  sure  that  what  we  hear  is  true, 
and  still  less  can  we  tell  how  far  heredity,  environment, 
and  a  multitude  of  other  circumstances  may  hinder 
an  action,  that  is  in  itself  wrong,  from  involving  the 
soul  in  guilt  in  the  sight  of  God.  Hence  the  value 
of  bearing  in  mind  the  apostolic  injunction :  "  Judge 
nothing  before  the  time  until  the  Lord  come,  Who 
both  will  bring  to  light  the  hidden  things  of  darkness, 
and  will  make  manifest  the  counsels  of  the  hearts : 
and  then  shall  every  man  have  praise  of  God.*'^ 

With  this  apostolic  warning  in  her  mind  we  find  that 
the  early  Church  prayed  at  first  for  all  the  faithful 
departed — that  is,  for  all  those  who  had  been  baptized.^ 
Whether  she  prayed  for  those  who  were  not  Christians 
we  do  not  know.  It  seems  probable  that  such  were  not 
prayed  for  in  the  public  prayers  of  the  Church,  but  were 
no  doubt  remembered  in  the  intercessions  of  their  friends 
and  relations  who  belonged  to  the  Church  of  Christ. 

^  I  Cor.  iv.  5. 

^  This  thought — that  because  God  alone  knows  the  state  of  the  soul  so 
He  alone  knows  whither  it  passes  at  death — is  beautifully  expressed  in  a 
prayer  of  the  Syro-Jacobite  Liturgy  of  St.  Maruthas :  "Remember,  O 
Lord,  through  Thy  grace,  all  those  who  .  .  .  are  departed  out  of  this 
miserable  life,  and  are  gotie  where  Thou  only  hiowest ;  and  give  them  rest 
among  those  delights  which  thou  hast  promised  to  them  that  love  Thee, 
not  calling  to  mind  their  sins  and  ours,  for  no  man  is  without  sin."  Hence, 
as  St.  Augustine  said,  "  sacrifices  either  of  the  altar  or  of  alms  are  offered 
on  behalf  of  all  the  baptized  dead  ;  they  are  thank-offerings  for  the  very 
good,  they  are  propitiatory  offerings  for  the  not  very  bad." 


Prayer  for  the  Departed  203 

At  a  very  early  date  it  was  customary  to  think  of  the 
martyrs  as  already  admitted  to  the  presence  of  their 
Lord  in  Paradise,  and  therefore  not  needing  the  prayers 
of  the  Church  on  earth,  but,  on  the  contrary,  themselves 
interceding  before  God  for  their  brethren.  Thus  there 
grew  up  the  custom  of  commemorating  the  martyrs 
and  other  great  saints,  and  praying  for  all  the  rest 
of  the  departed.  This  is  made  clear  by  St.  Cyril  of 
Jerusalem.  He  says :  "  We  commemorate  also  those 
who  have  fallen  asleep  before  us,  first,  patriarchs, 
prophets,  apostles,  martyrs,  that  at  their  prayers  and 
intervention  God  would  receive  our  petition.  After- 
wards, also  on  behalf  of  the  holy  fathers  and  bishops 
who  have  fallen  asleep  before  us,  and,  in  a  word,  of 
all  who  in  past  years  have  fallen  asleep  among  us, 
believing  that  it  will  be  a  very  great  advantage  to 
the  souls,  for  whom  the  supplication  is  put  up,  while 
that  holy  and  most  awful  sacrifice  is  presented.  And 
I  wish  to  persuade  you  by  an  illustration.  For  I  know 
that  many  say,  What  is  a  soul  profited,  which  departs 
from  this  world  either  with  sins  or  without  sins,  if  it 
be  commemorated  in  prayer  ?  Now  surely  if,  when 
a  king  had  banished  any  who  had  given  him  offence, 
their  connections  should  weave  a  crown  and  offer  it 
to  him  on  behalf  of  those  under  his  vengeance,  would 
he  not  grant  a  respite  to  their  punishments?  In  the 
same  way  we,  when  we  offer  to  Him  our  supplications 
for  those  who  have  fallen  asleep,  though  they  be  sinners, 
weave  no  mere  crown,  but  offer  up  Christ,  sacrificed  for 


204  "^^^  Soul  in  the  Unsee7t  World 

our  sins,  propitiating  our  merciful  God  both  for  them 
and  for  ourselves."  ^ 

The  Primitive  Liturgies  supply  many  very  beautiful 
examples  of  such  prayers  as  St.  Cyril  refers  to.  In 
the  Liturgy  of  St.  James — which  was  probably  the 
Liturgy  most  familiar  to  St.  Cyril — the  priest  offers  a 
long  intercession  for  the  Church,  and,  in  praying  for 
himself  and  the  "  deacons  that  surround  Thy  holy 
altar,"  he  continues :  "  Grant  them  blamelessness  of 
life,  .  .  .  that  they  may  find  mercy  and  grace  with 
all  Thy  saints  that  have  been  pleasing  to  Thee  from 
one  generation  to  another,  since  the  beginning  of  the 
world — our  ancestors,  and  fathers,  patriarchs,  prophets, 
apostles,  martyrs,  confessors,  teachers,  holy  persons, 
every  just  spirit  made  perfect  in  the  faith  of  Thy 
Christ. 

"...  Especially  the  most  holy,  spotless,  excellently 
laudable,  glorious  Lady,  the  Mother  of  God,  and  Ever- 
Virgin  Mary. 

"  Choir.  It  is  very  meet  to  bless  thee,  the  Mother  of 
God,  the  ever  blessed,  the  entirely  spotless,  more 
honourable  than  the  Cherubim  and  infinitely  more 
glorious  than  the  Seraphim,  thee,  who  didst  bear  with- 
out corruption  God  the  Word,  thee,  verily  the  Mother 
of  God,  we  magnify.  In  thee,  O  full  of  grace,  all 
creation  exults,  and  the  hierarchy  of  angels,  and  the 
race  of  men  ;  .  .  .  glory  to  thee. 

"  The  Deacon.    Remember,  O  Lord  our  God. 

^  Catech.  Led.  xxiii.  lo. 


Prayer  for  the  Departed  205 

"  The  Priest  {bowing).  Remember,  Lord,  the  God  of 
the  spirits  and  all  flesh,  the  Orthodox  whom  we  have 
commemorated,  from  righteous  Abel  unto  this  day. 
Give  them  rest  there,  in  the  land  of  the  living,  in 
Thy  kingdom,  in  the  delight  of  Paradise,  in  the  bosom 
of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  our  holy  fathers,  whence 
pain,  sorrow,  and  groaning  is  exiled,  where  the  light  of 
Thy  countenance  looks  down,  and  always  shines." 

In  the  Liturgy  of  St.  John  Chrysostom  the  deacon 
says  :  "  Commemorating  the  all-holy,  spotless,  excel- 
lently laudable,  and  glorious  Lady,  the  Mother  of  God, 
and  Ever- Virgin  Mary,  with  all  saints,  let  us  commend 
ourselves  and  each  other  and  all  our  life  to  Christ  our 
God."  Later  on,  after  the  invocation  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
for  the  Consecration,  the  priest  commemorates  the 
saints  and  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  and  then  prays 
thus  for  the  rest  of  the  departed  :  "  Remember  all  those 
that  are  departed  in  the  hope  of  the  resurrection  to 
eternal  life,  and  give  them  rest  where  the  light  of  Thy 
countenance  shines  upon  them." 

Passing  from  the  first  great  group  of  Liturgies  to 
the  second,  ^  we  may  quote  a  passage  in  the  Liturgy  of 
St.  Mark  as  representative  of  all  the  others.  In  the 
long  prayer  of  intercession  we  find  these  words  :  "  Give 
rest  to  the  souls  of  our  fathers  and  brethren  that  have 
hitherto  slept  in  the  faith  of  Christ,  O  Lord  our  God, 

^  The  Primitive  Liturgies  are  usually  divided  into  five  groups  :  (i)  that 
of  St.  James ;  (2)  that  of  St.  Mark  ;  (3)  that  of  St.  Thaddeus ;  (4)  that 
of  St.  Peter,  or  the  Roman ;  (5)  that  of  St.  John,  or  Ephesus. 


2o6  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  Wo7^ld 

remembering  our  ancestors,  fathers,  patriarchs,  apostles, 
martyrs,  confessors,  bishops,  holy  and  just  persons, 
every  spirit  that  has  departed  in  the  faith  of  Christ, 
and  those  whom  to-day  we  keep  in  memory  .  .  . 
especially  the  most  holy,  stainless,  blessed,  our  Lady 
Mother  of  God,  and  ever- Virgin."  So  far  these  prayers 
have  been  said  by  the  priest,  but  now  there  is  a  pause, 
and  the  deacon  says,  "  Pray,  sir,  for  a  blessing " ;  then 
the  priest  says,  "  The  Lord  shall  bless  thee  with  His 
grace,  now  and  ever  and  to  ages  of  ages."  After  this, 
^'The  deacon  reads  the  Diptychs  of  the  departed.  The 
priest  bows  down  and  prays :  And  to  the  spirits  of  all 
these  give  rest,  our  Master,  Lord,  and  God,  in  the 
tabernacles  of  Thy  saints,  vouchsafing  to  them  in.  Thy 
kingdom  the  good  things  of  Thy  promise,  which  eye 
hath  not  seen,  and  ear  hath  not  heard,  and  it  hath  not 
entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things  which  Thou 
hast  prepared,  O  God,  for  them  that  love  Thy  holy 
Name.  Give  rest  to  their  souls  and  vouchsafe  to  them 
the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

We  come  now  to  the  third  group  —  the  Eastern 
Syrian  Liturgies — of  which  the  Malabar  Rite  may  be 
taken  as  an  example.  The  deacon  is  directed  to  say : 
"  Let  us  commemorate  the  most  blessed  Virgin  Mary, 
the  Mother  of  Christ  and  our  Saviour.  .  .  .  Let  us 
venerate  the  memory  of  prophets,  apostles,  martyrs, 
and  confessors ;  let  us  pray  that  by  their  prayers  and 
the  passions  which  they  endured,  God  may  give  to 
us  with  them  a  good  hope  and  salvation  ;  that  we  may 


Prayer  for  the  Departed  207 

be  made  worthy  of  their  blessed  commemoration,  and 
their  living  and  true  promises  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
.  .  .  Let  us  remember  also  our  fathers  and  our  brethren 
who  have  departed  out  of  this  world  in  the  orthodox 
faith ;  let  us  pray,  I  say,  to  the  Lord  that  He  may 
absolve  them,  and  may  forgive  them  their  offences,  and 
may  vouchsafe  that  they,  with  all  the  just  and  righteous 
men  who  have  obeyed  the  divine  will,  may  rejoice  for 
ever  and  ever." 

The  fourth  division  consists  of  but  one  Liturgy — 
the  Petrine — and  this  is  probably  of  a  later  date  than 
the  other  Liturgies,  owing  to  the  fact  that  for  some 
considerable  time  the  Church  in  Rome  used  a  Liturgy 
written  in  Greek.  However,  both  the  Petrine  and  the 
Ephesine  groups  form  no  exception  to  the  earlier 
Liturgies;  they  all  alike  commemorate  the  saints  and 
all  those  who  have  departed.  It  is  perfectly  clear,  then, 
that  in  a  wide  sense  the  primitive  Church  may  be  said 
to  have  prayed  for  all  souls,  even  for  our  Blessed 
Lady  and  for  the  saints  in  Heaven  ;  but  there  is  almost 
always  a  distinction  to  be  noticed  between  the  prayers 
offered  for  the  blessed  in  Paradise  and  those  offered  for 
others  among  the  departed. 

Such  prayers  are  usually  separated  from  each  other 
in  the  Liturgy,  and  God  is  asked  to  "  remember "  the 
saints,  or  else  the  priest  speaks  of  "  commemorating " 
them,  and  then,  later  on,  prays  for  the  other  dead,  that 
God  would  "  give  them  rest,"  bring  them  to  "  the  king- 
dom  of  heaven,"  "give   them    rest   in    the   delight   of 


2o8  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen    World 

Paradise,  where  the  hght  of  Thy  countenance  always 
shines,"  or  else,  that  God  may  "  absolve  them  and  for- 
give them  their  offences." 

The  contrast  of  these  latter  supplications  with  the 
tone  customary  in  the  commemorations  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  and  the  saints  is  noteworthy.  All  titles  of 
honour  and  glory  are  freely  used  of  Blessed  Mary — 
though  without  direct  invocation  in  the  original  form 
of  the  Liturgies  —  and  God  is  implored  "  by  the 
prayers "  of  the  saints  and  "  the  passions  which  they 
endured  "  to  "  give  us  with  them  a  good  hope  of  salva- 
tion." Bishop  Forbes,  in  his  Commentary  on  the 
Thirty-nine  Articles,  draws  attention  to  this  distinction 
in  these  words :  "  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  in  explaining 
the  Liturgy,  apparently  arranges  the  departed  mentioned 
in  it  into  three  classes  :  (i)  those  who  are  commemorated 
and  not  prayed  for — '  the  patriarchs,  prophets,  apostles, 
martyrs,  that  at  their  prayers  and  intercessions  God 
would  receive  our  petitions ' ;  (2)  the  holy  dead  prayed 
for — '  then  also  in  behalf  of  (Jjirep)  the  holy  fathers  and 
bishops ' ;  and,  (3)  of  all  universally  who  have  fallen 
asleep  among  us,  believing  that  it  will  be  a  very  great 
advantage  to  the  souls,  in  behalf  of  {virep)  whom  the 
supplication  is  put  up  while  the  'holy  and  most  awful 
sacrifice  lieth  there.' "^ 

In  a  former  chapter  we  have  seen  what  was  the 
attitude  of  the  primitive  Church  towards  the  saints  in 

^  Vol.  ii.  p.  319,  Article  XXII.     The  passage  of  St.  Cyril  referred  to  is 
probably  the  one  quoted  on  p.  203. 


•   Prayer  for  the  Departed  209 

Paradise,  Le.  towards  those  who  on  account  of  eminent 
hoh'ness  or  martyrdom  were  believed  without  any  doubt 
to  be  already  with  Christ,  and  therefore  in  that  home 
where  nothing  imperfect  can  enter.  These  holy  ones 
were  "  remembered "  and  "  commemorated "  in  the 
Divine  Liturgy ;  they  were  invoked  in  the  prayers  of 
the  faithful  who  visited  their  tombs.  But  with  regard 
to  the  bulk  of  the  faithful  the  teaching  of  the  Liturgies 
is  not  so  clear.  We  must  remember  that  many  points 
that  are  now  more  or  less  universally  believed  were  in 
the  early  Church  either  not  discussed  at  all  or  else  left 
to  the  judgment  of  the  individual  Christian.  We  may, 
however,  safely  say  that  while  all  the  dead  were  prayed 
for  in  the  primitive  Church,  yet  it  was  especially  thought 
in  the  Eastern  part  of  the  Church  to  be  a  duty  to  pray 
for  those  who  had  lived  a  sinful  life,  and  been  called 
away  in  the  midst  of  their  sin,  or  before  they  had  been 
able  to  bring  forth  fruits  meet  for  repentance.  Among 
these  there  would  be  some — known  of  course  only  to 
God — for  whom  no  prayers  could  avail ;  others  there 
would  be  who  at  the  great  day  of  judgment  would 
be  found  acceptable  to  God,  and  whose  salvation  had 
been  helped  by  the  prayers  of  their  friends  in  the 
Church  on  earth. 

In  the  writings  of  St.  Augustine — the  great  Doctor 
of  the  Western  Church — we  find  a  suggestion  that  the 
purification  or  perfecting  of  the  souls  of  the  imperfect 
might  be  accomplished  before  the  judgment,  and  that 
consequently  souls  that  had  been    excluded  at  death 


2IO  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   Wot  Id 

from  Paradise,  might  attain  to  that  bright  home  as  soon 
as  they  were  fit  for  it.  Thus,  as  early  as  the  fourth 
century  we  can  find  traces  of  those  points  of  difference 
between  the  East  and  West,  on  the  intermediate  state, 
that  later  on  were  elaborated  and  expressed  in  the 
dogmatic  decrees  of  the  Roman  Church.  But  of  this 
it  will  be  necessary  to  treat  more  at  length  in  a  later 
chapter. 

In  support  of  the  assertion  that,  according  to  the 
teaching  of  the  Church  in  the  East,  the  sinful  dead  were 
thought  of  as  especially  those  who  were  helped  by  the 
prayers  of  the  faithful  on  earth,  and  that  they  were  be- 
lieved to  be  excluded  from  Paradise,  it  will  be  sufficient  to 
quote  but  one  Father — the  great  Doctor  and  Saint,  John 
Chrysostom.  It  is  quite  evident  that  he  is  propounding 
no  new  theory  of  his  own,  but  urging  the  traditional 
belief  that  he  had  received  from  an  earlier  age,  a  belief 
for  which  he  claimed  the  authority,  not  of  the  Apostles 
only,  but  of  God  the  Holy  Ghost.  St.  John  Chry- 
sostom, after  showing  that  the  righteous  dead  are  not 
to  be  unduly  mourned  over,  since  they  are  with  the 
King  and  see  Him  face  to  face — while,  on  the  contrary, 
sinners  are  far  from  the  King — adds  :  "  Let  us  then  not 
make  wailings  for  the  dead  simply,  but  for  those  who 
have  died  in  sins.  They  deserve  wailing  ;  they  deserve 
beating  of  the  breast  and  tears.  For  tell  me  what  hope 
is  there,  when  our  sins  accompany  us  thither,  where 
there  is  no  putting  off  sins  ?  .  .  .  Weep  for  the  un- 
believers, weep  for  those,  who  differ  in  no  wise  from 


Prayer  for  the  Departed  211 

them,  those  who  have  departed  hence  unbaptlzed,  with- 
out the  Seal !  They  indeed  deserve  our  wailing,  .  .  . 
they  are  outside  the  Palace,  with  the  culprits,  with  the 
condemned  :  .  .  .  Let  us  weep  for  these  not  one  day,  or 
two,  but  all  our  life.  .  .  .  Let  us  weep  for  them,  let  us 
assist  them  according  to  our  power,  let  us  think  of  some 
assistance  for  them,  small  though  it  be,  yet  still  let  us 
help  them.  How  and  in  what  way  ?  By  praying  our- 
selves for  them,  by  entreating  others  to  make  prayers 
for  them,  by  continually  giving  to  the  poor  on  their 
behalf  This  conveyeth  a  certain  consolation,  for  hear 
the  words  of  God  Himself,  when  He  says,  '  I  will  defend 
this  city  for  Mine  own  sake,  and  for  My  servant  David's 
sake.'  If  the  remembrance  only  of  a  just  man  had  so 
great  power,  how  when  deeds  are  done  for  one,  will  they 
not  have  power?  Not  in  vain  did  the  Apostles  order 
that  remembrance  should  be  made  of  the  dead  in  the 
dreadful  Mysteries.  They  knew  that  great  gain  re- 
sulteth  to  them  and  great  assistance ;  for  when  the 
whole  people  stands  with  uplifted  hands,  a  priestly 
assembly,  and  that  awful  Sacrifice  lies  displayed,  how 
shall  we  not  prevail  with  God  by  our  entreaties  for 
them?  But  this  we  do  for  those  only  who  have 
departed  in  the  faith,  whilst  the  Catechumens  are  not 
thought  worthy  even  of  this  consolation,  but  are  de- 
prived of  all  means  of  help  save  one.  And  what  is  that  ? 
We  may  give  to  the  poor  on  their  behalf,  and  this  in 
a  certain  way  refreshes  them.  For  God  wills  that  we 
should  be  mutually  assisted ;  else  why  hath  He  ordered 


212  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen    World 

us  to  pray  for  peace  and  the  good  estate  of  the  world  ? 
why  on  behalf  of  all  men  ?  since  in  this  number  are 
included  robbers,  violators  of  tombs,  thieves,  men  laden 
with  untold  crimes  ;  and  yet  we  pray  for  all ;  perchance 
they  may  have  repentance.  As  then  we  pray  for  those 
living  who  differ  nought  from  the  dead,  so  too  we  may 
pray  for  them."^ 

Now  here  we  notice  that  the  prayers  and  alms  are 
desired  for  the  sinful  dead  who  are  "  outside  the  Palace, 
with  the  culprits,  with  the  condemned,"  and  that  "  great 
gain  resulteth  to  them  and  great  assistance  "  from  these 
prayers,  offered  at  the  time  of  the  Eucharistic  Sacrifice ; 
we  are  also  told  that  even  to  the  unbaptized  the  alms 
offered  in  their  name  bring  refreshment.  This  teaching 
is  referred  to  in  many  other  parts  of  the  writings  of 
St.  John  Chrysostom.  In  one  of  his  homilies  on  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles  2  he  writes :  "  Say  if,  as  we  sit 
together,  the  Emperor  were  to  send  and  invite  some 
one  of  us  to  the  palace,  would  it  be  right,  I  ask,  to 
weep  and  mourn  ?  But  Angels  are  present,  com- 
missioned from  heaven  and  come  from  thence,  sent 
from  the  King  Himself  to  call  their  fellow-servants, 
and  say,  dost  thou  weep?  Knowest  thou  not  what 
a  mystery  it  is  that  is  taking  place,  how  awful,  how 
dread,  and  worthy  indeed  of  hymns  and  praises  ? 
Wouldst  thou  learn,  that  thou  mayest  know,  that  this 
is  no  time  for  tears  1  For  it  is  a  very  great  mystery 
of  the  wisdom  of  God.    As  if,  leaving  her  dwelling,  the 

^  Horn.  iii.  ;  Phil.  i.  24.  ^  Horn.  xxi.  ;  Acts  ix.  28-38. 


Prayer  for  the  Departed  2 1 3 

soul  goes  forth,  speeding  on  her  way  to  her  own  Lord, 
and  dost  thou  mourn  ?  Why,  then,  thou  shouldest  do 
this  on  the  birth  of  a  child :  for  this  is  in  fact  also 
a  birth,  and  a  better  than  that.  For  here  she  goes 
forth  to  a  very  different  light,  is  loosed  as  from  a  prison 
house,  comes  off  as  from  a  contest.  '  Yes,'  you  say, 
'  it  is  all  very  well  to  speak  thus,  in  the  case  of  those 
of  whose  salvation  we  are  assured.'  Then  what  ails 
thee,  O  man,  that  even  in  the  case  of  such,  thou  dost 
not  take  it  in  this  way  ?  Say,  what  canst  thou  condemn 
in  the  little  child?  Why  dost  thou  mourn  for  it? 
What  in  the  newly  baptized  ?  for  he  too  is  brought 
into  the  same  condition :  why  dost  thou  mourn  for 
him  ?  For  as  the  sun  arises  clear  and  bright  so  the 
soul,  leaving  the  body  with  a  pure  conscience,  shines 
joyously  .  .  .  Why  mournest  thou  ?  Answer  me.  But 
it  is  perhaps  only  for  sinners  that  you  mourn  ?  Would 
that  it  were  so,  for  then  I  would  not  forbid  you  to 
lament  .  .  .  Worthy  indeed  of  lamentations  are  they, 
[when  we  consider]  the  time  when  they  must  stand 
before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ,  and  the  words  they 
will  then  hear,  and  what  they  will  then  suffer!  To 
no  purpose  have  these  men  lived :  nay,  not  to  no 
purpose  merely,  but  to  evil  purpose!  Of  them  too 
it  may  be  fitly  said,  It  were  good  for  them  that  they 
had  never  been  born  .  .  .  Why,  here  is  a  man  who 
has  lost  all  the  labour  of  a  whole  life ;  not  one  day 
has  he  lived  profitably,  but  for  luxury,  debauchery, 
covetousness,  sin,  and  the  devil.     Then,  say,  shall  we 


214  ^^^  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

not  bewail  this  man?  shall  we  not  try  to  snatch  him 
from  his  perils?  For  it  is,  yes,  it  is  possible,  if  we 
will,  to  mitigate  his  punishment  if  we  make  continual 
prayers  for  him,  if  for  him  we  give  alms.  However 
unworthy  he  may  be,  God  will  yield  to  our  importunity. 
.  .  .  Has  he  no  almsdeeds  of  his  own  to  plead  for  him  ? 
Let  him  have  at  least  those  of  his  kindred  .  .  .  that 
his  wife  may  with  confidence  beg  him  off  in  that  day, 
having  paid  down  the  ransom  for  him.  The  more 
sins  he  has  to  answer  for,  the  more  need  he  has  of 
alms,  not  only  for  this  reason,  but  because  the  alms 
have  not  the  same  virtue  now,  but  far  less :  for  it 
is  not  all  one  to  have  done  it  himself,  and  to  have 
another  to  do  it  for  him,  therefore  the  virtue  being 
less  the  alms  must  needs  be  more  abundant.  .  .  .  Many 
have  profited  even  by  the  alms  done  by  others  on  their 
behalf :  for  even  if  they  have  not  got  perfect  deliverance, 
at  least  they  have  obtained  some  comfort  from  them 
.  .  .  Not  in  vain  are  the  oblations  made  for  the  departed, 
not  in  vain  the  prayers,  not  in  vain  the  almsdeeds :  all 
those  things  hath  the  Spirit  ordered,  wishing  us  to 
be  benefited  one  by  the  other.  ...  It  is  not  in  vain 
that  the  Deacon  cries,  '  For  them  that  are  fallen  asleep 
in  Christ,  and  for  them  that  make  the  memorials  for 
them.'  It  is  not  the  Deacon  that  utters  this  voice,  but 
the  Holy  Ghost:  I  speak  of  the  Gift.  What  sayest 
thou?  There  is  the  Sacrifice  in  hand,  and  all  things 
laid  out  duly  ordered :  Angels  are  there  present,  and 
Archangels :    the   Son   of  God    Himself  is   there :    all 


Praye}^  for  the  Departed  2 1  ^ 

stand  in  great  awe,  and  in  the  general  silence  those 
stand  by  crying  aloud :  and  thinkest  thou  what  is 
done  is  done  in  vain?  Then  why  is  not  all  the  rest 
in  vain — the  oblations  made  for  the  Church,  for  the 
priests,  and  for  the  whole  body?  God  forbid  that 
this  should  be  in  vain !  for  all  that  is  done  is  done 
in  faith." 

St.  John  Chrysostom  then  goes  on  to  say  that  the 
mention  of  the  martyrs,  "in  the  presence  of  the  Lord, 
when  that  memorial  is  being  celebrated — the  dread 
Sacrifice,  the  unutterable  mysteries,"  is  not  for  the  same 
object  as  the  mention  of  the  other  dead,  and  he  con- 
cludes with  this  exhortation  :  "  Knowing  these  things, 
let  us  devise  what  consolations  we  can  for  the  departed. 
Instead  of  tombs,  instead  of  tears,  instead  of  lamenta- 
tions, let  us  give  our  alms,  our  prayers  and  our  obla- 
tions, that  both  we  and  they  may  attain  unto  the 
promised  blessings,  by  the  grace  and  lovingkindness 
of  .  .  .  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

It  appears,  then,  that  St.  John  Chrysostom  thought  (as 
the  theologians  of  the  Eastern  Church  still  teach)  that 
the  sinful  dead  were  not  only  shut  out  of  Paradise 
but  were  "with  the  condemned" — with  the  lost  souls. 
For  some  of  the  wicked  these  prayers  may  have  been 
thought  of  as  merely  obtaining  an  alleviation  of  their 
sufferings,  but  for  others  it  was  hoped  that  by  the 
suffrages  and  alms  of  the  Church  on  earth  they  would 
eventually  "attain  unto  the  promised  blessings."  St. 
Chrysostom    nowhere   implies  that   such   souls   are   in 


2i6  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

a  state  or  place  of  progress  or  purification,  but  on 
the  contrary,  he  supposes  that  they  depend  entirely 
on  what  is  done  for  them  by  their  friends  and  relations 
on  earth :  he  avoids  the  difficulty  as  to  those  who 
have  none  to  pray  for  them  by  saying  that  all  should 
be  careful  to  choose  as  their  companions  those 
who  will  pray  for  them.-^  From  what  St.  John 
Chrysostom  says,  we  are  led  to  the  conclusion  that 
he  believed  that  even  those  who  were  able  to  receive 
help  from  the  prayers  of  their  friends  would  not 
"attain  unto  the  promised  blessings"  until  the  day  of 
judgment. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  saint  does  not 
claim  the  authority  of  the  Apostles  and  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  for  these  matters  of  opinion,  but  only  for  the 
use  of  prayers  for  the  departed.  It  is  one  thing  to 
pray  for  the  dead,  and  quite  another  to  attempt  to 
settle  how  such  prayers  avail,  or  how  far  the  departed 
depend  upon  them. 

In  turning  to  the  teaching  of  St.  Augustine — the 
great  Father  and  Doctor  of  the  Western  Church — we 
find  that,  equally  with  St.  John  Chrysostom,  he  is 
perfectly  certain  that  the  dead  ought  to  be  remembered 
in  prayer,  but  his  teaching  on  other  points  is  not  the 
same  as  the  doctrine  (already  quoted)  of  the  Eastern 
Doctor. 

St.  Augustine  teaches  that  it  depends  upon  the  state 
in  which  the  soul  is  at  the  time  of  death  whether  it 

^  Horn,  xxi.,  on  Acts  ix.  28-38. 


Prayer  for  the  Departed  217 

can  be  helped  by  the  prayers  of  the  Church.  As  none 
but  God  can  know  what  this  state  is,  the  Church  prays, 
he  says,  for  all  the  departed.  Some  need  no  prayers 
because  they  are  already  perfect,  others  who  are  im- 
perfect  are  helped  by  prayer  and  the  Eucharistic 
Sacrifice,  while  yet  other  souls  are  lost  for  ever  and 
can  receive  no  help  from  the  suffrages  of  those  on 
earth,  or  at  the  best  can  only  obtain  some  slight 
alleviation  of  their  suffering.  It  will  be  more  satis- 
factory to  quote  the  exact  words  of  St.  Augustine, 
as  his  teaching  moulded  the  doctrine  of  the  whole 
Western  Church  and  became  the  accepted  faith  (with 
some  slight  alterations)  of  Western  Christendom.  In 
his  book  The  Enchiridion  St.  Augustine  writes : 
"  During  the  time  which  intervenes  between  a  man's 
death  and  the  final  resurrection,  the  soul  dwells  in  a 
hidden  retreat,  where  it  enjoys  rest  or  suffers  affliction 
just  in  proportion  to  the  merit  it  has  earned  by  the 
life  which  it  led  on  earth. 

"  Nor  can  it  be  denied  that  the  souls  of  the  dead 
are  benefited  by  the  piety  of  their  living  friends,  who 
offer  the  sacrifice  of  the  Mediator,  or  give  alms  in  the 
church  on  their  behalf  But  these  services  are  of 
advantage  only  to  those  who  during  their  lives  have 
earned  such  merit  that  services  of  this  kind  can  help 
them.  For  there  is  a  manner  of  life  which  is  neither 
so  good  as  not  to  require  these  services  after  death, 
nor  so  bad  that  such  services  are  of  no  avail ;  there 
is,  on  the  other  hand,  a  kind  of  life  so  good  as  not 


2i8  The  S021I  in  the  Unseen  World 

to  require  them,  and  again,  one  so  bad  that  when  life 
is  over  they  render  no  help.  Therefore  it  is  in  this 
life  that  all  the  merit  or  demerit  is  acquired,  which 
can  either  relieve  or  aggravate  a  man's  sufferings  after 
this  life.  No  one,  then,  need  hope  that  after  he  is 
dead  he  shall  obtain  merit  with  God,  which  he  has 
neglected  to  secure  here.  And,  accordingly,  it  is 
plain  that  the  services  which  the  Church  celebrates 
for  the  dead  are  in  no  way  opposed  to  the  Apostle's 
words :  '  We  must  all  appear  before  the  judgment  seat 
of  Christ ;  that  every  one  may  receive  the  things  done 
in  his  body,  according  to  that  he  hath  done,  whether 

•  it  be  good  or  bad ' ;  for  the  merit  which  renders  such 
services  as  I  speak  of  profitable  to  a  man  is  earned 
while  he  lives  in  the  body.  It  is  not,  then,  to  everyone 
that  these  services  are  profitable.     And  why  are  they 

•  not  profitable  to  all,  except  because  of  the  different 
kinds  of  lives  that  men  lead  in  the  body?  When, 
then,  sacrifices  either  of  the  altar  or  of  alms  are  offered 
on  behalf  of  the  baptized  dead,  they  are  thank-offerings 
for  the  very  good,  they  are  propitiatory  offerings  for  the 
not  very  bad ;  and  in  the  case  of  the  very  bad,  even 
though  they  do  not  assist  the  dead,  they  are  a  species 
of  consolation  to  the  living.  And  where  they  are 
profitable  their  benefit  consists  either  in  obtaining  a 
full  remission  of  sins,  or  at  least  in  making  the  con- 
demnation more  tolerable."  1 

In  an  earlier  chapter  of  the  same  book,  St.  Augustine 

^  Chaps,  cix.j  cx» 


Prayer  for  the  Departed  2 1 9 

explains  the  words  of  St.  Paul — "The  fire  shall  try 
every  man's  work,  of  what  sort  it  is.  If  any  man's 
work  abide  which  he  hath  built  thereupon,  he  shall 
receive  a  reward.  If  any  man's  work  shall  be  burned 
he  shall  suffer  loss ;  but  he  himself  shall  be  saved,  yet 
so  as  by  fire" — to  mean  that  they  who  have  been  too 
much  attached  to  earthly  things  will  suffer  great  grief 
when  these  things  are  lost.  The  things  themselves 
are,  as  it  were,  destroyed,  but  the  man  himself  is  saved, 
"  yet  so  as  by  fire,  because  the  grief  for  what  he  loved 
and  has  lost  burns  him."  St.  Augustine  immediately 
continues :  "  And  it  is  not  impossible  that  something 
of  this  same  kind  may  take  place  even  after  this  life. 
It  is  a  matter  that  may  be  inquired  into,  and  either 
ascertained  or  left  doubtful,  whether  some  believers 
shall  pass  through  a  kind  of  purgatorial  fire,  and  in 
proportion  as  they  have  loved  with  more  or  less 
devotion  the  goods  that  perish,  be  more  or  less  quickly 
delivered  from  it."  St.  Augustine  then  explains  that 
this  can  only  be  the  case  with  those  who  have  departed 
this  life  in  penitence,  after  bringing  forth  suitable  fruits 
of  repentance ;  among  these  fruits  he  lays — as  do  all 
the  Fathers — great  stress  upon  almsgiving.^ 

Now  it  is  quite  clear  from  the  above  that  St. 
Augustine  did  not  think  of  any  purgatory  of  material 
fire,  and  therefore  his  words  have  no  right  to  be  quoted, 
as  they  often  are,  by  Roman  Catholic  controversialists 
in  support  of  their  theory  that  the  fire  of  purgatory  is 
material  fire.  1  chaps,  ixviii.-ix. 


2  20  The  Sotd  in  the   Unseen    World 

In  answer,  then,  to  the  question,  Who  among  the 
dead  were  prayed  for  in  the  primitive  Church?  we 
may  safely  reply,  in  the  words  of  St.  Augustine,  All 
the  baptized  dead.  The  object  sought  in  these  prayers 
was  the  "  rest "  of  the  soul,  and  that  was  brought  about 
by  such  means  as  God  willed.  As  to  the  place  in 
which  it  was  supposed  the  dead  awaited  the  resur- 
rection, we  do  not  find  that  the  Fathers  teach  anything 
very  clearly.  Some  of  the  departed  are  thought  of  as 
already  at  rest  in  Paradise,  while  others  are  "  shut  out 
among  the  condemned,"  but  not  in  every  case  without 
hope  of  pardon  and  final  acceptance.  One  thing  is 
abundantly  plain,  and  that  is,  that  the  Fathers  never 
thought  of  Paradise  as  a  place  or  state  into  which 
the  sin  -  stained  souls  of  the  faithful  departed  were 
admitted  in  order  that  they  might  be  purified  and 
make  progress.  Paradise  was  never  looked  upon  as 
the  abode  of  those  whom  the  Church  prayed  for  in 
the  strict  sense  of  the  word.  It  is  opposed  to  all 
beliefs — Pagan,  Jewish,  Catholic,  and  Protestant — to 
speak,  as  some  few  Anglicans  do,  as  if  Paradise  was 
a  sort  of  Purgatory.^  It  has  never  been  so  regarded 
by  any  portion  of  the  Church,  Jewish  or  Christian. 
The  Jews  who  prayed  for  their  dead  did  so  thinking 
of   those    who    needed    such    prayers    as    suffering    in 


^  For  example,  Dr.  Sanderson,  in  his  book,  The  Life  of  the  Waiting 
Soul,  writes,  "  But  the  suffering  in  Paradise  will  be  accompanied  with  an 
exquisite  delight  and  joy."  To  associate  "suffering"  with  Paradise  is,  I 
believe,  an  absolute  novelty  in  either  Jewish  or  Christian  teaching. 


Prayer  for  the  Departed  221 

Gehenna.  St.  John  Chrysostom  seems  to  have  taught 
much  the  same  doctrine,  while  other  Fathers  leave  the 
question  undiscussed.  They  doubtless  prayed,  as  the 
Church  has  prayed  ever  since,  for  many  whom  God 
knew  had  already  attained  the  rest  that  was  sought, 
and  in  Paradise  had  no  need  further  of  prayer ;  but 
this  the  Church  could  not  know,  and  so  she  prayed 
for  the  souls  of  her  children  that  they  might  attain 
to  the  delights  of  Paradise,  even  at  the  very  time 
when  she  hoped  that  they  were  already  there.  If, 
however,  she  had  known  they  were  in  Paradise,  she 
would  still  have  prayed — if  not  for  their  "  rest,"  yet 
for  their  final  perfect  consummation  of  bliss  both  in 
body  and  soul  in  the  resurrection  of  the  just.  It 
was,  however,  taken  for  granted  in  the  case  of  the 
martyrs  and  great  saints  that  they  were  at  rest  in 
Paradise,  and  hence,  strictly  speaking,  they  should  be 
spoken  of  as  commemorated  rather  than  as  prayed 
for  in  the  primitive  Liturgies.^ 

^  See  p.  181  for  proof  that  those  few  Fathers  who  thought  of  the  dead 
as  unable  to  enter  Heaven  until  the  resurrection  thought  that  they  were 
therefore  excluded  from  Paradise. 


XII. 


patrletic  ^eacbing 
on  ifuture  purification 


PRAYER    FOR   THE    PURGATION    OF   A   SOUL 
{From  Book  of  Common  Prayer) 

O  Almighty  God,  with  Whom  do  Hve  the  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect,  after  they  are  deHvered  from  their  earthly  prisons  ; 
We  humbly  commend  the  soul  of  this  Thy  servant,  our  dear 
brother^  into  Thy  hands,  as  into  the  hands  of  a  faithful  Creator, 
and  most  merciful  Saviour ;  most  humbly  beseeching  Thee,  that 
it  may  be  precious  in  Thy  sight.  Wash  it,  we  pray  Thee,  in  the 
blood  of  that  immaculate  Lamb,  that  was  slain  to  take  away  the 
sins  of  the  world  ;  that  whatsoever  defilements  it  may  have  con- 
tracted in  the  midst  of  this  miserable  and  naughty  world,  through 
the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  or  the  wiles  of  Satan,  being  purged  and  done 
away,  it  may  be  presented  pure  and  without  spot  before  Thee, 
through  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ,  Thine  only  Son  our  Lord. 
Amen. 


XII. 

patristic  XTeacbinG  on  ifutute  purification 

WE  have  already  referred  to  the  mistaken  notion 
that  the  Faith  of  the  Gospel  was  an  entirely 
new  revelation,  standing  in  isolation  from  all  that  was 
already  commonly  believed  in  the  Jewish  and  pagan 
religions.  Christianity  was  not  an  entirely  new  revela- 
tion, but  rather  the  summing  up  and  final  expression  of 
all  the  truths  of  the  natural  and  supernatural  order  in 
the  person  of  Jesus  Christ.  God  "  made  Him  to  be 
the  avaK€(paXaL(jo(Ti<s,  or  recapitulation,  of  all  the  Theism, 
and  of  all  the  truths  relating  to  the  nature  of  man  and 
the  moral  law,  which  were  already  found  throughout 
the  world ;  and  has  set  these  truths  in  their  place  and 
proportion  in  the  full  revelation  of  the  '  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus.' "  1 

"  By  the  unity  of  doctrine,  or  faith,  the  Church  has 
taken  up  all  philosophies  and  consolidated  them  in  one. 
Whether  by  the  momentum  of  an  original  revelation,  or 
by  the  continual  guidance  of  a  heavenly  teaching,  or 
by   the   mutual    convergence   of    the    reason   of    man 

^  See  H.  E.  Manning,  Temporal  Mission  of  the  Holy  Ghost ^  p.  17. 
Q  225 


2  26  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

towards  the  unseen  realities  of  truth,  it  is  certain  that 
all  thoughtful  minds  were  gazing  one  way.  As  the 
fulness  of  time  drew  on,  their  eyes  were  more  and 
more  intently  fixed  on  one  point  in  the  horizon,  '  more 
than  they  that  watch  for  the  morning ' ;  and  all  the 
lights  of  this  fallen  world  were  bent  towards  one 
central  region,  in  which  at  last  they  met  and  kindled. 
The  one  Faith  was  the  focus  of  all  philosophies,  in 
which  they  were  fused,  purified,  and  blended.  The 
scattered  truths  which  had  wandered  up  and  down  the 
earth,  and  had  been  in  part  adored,  and  in  part  held 
in  unrighteousness,  were  now  elected  and  called  home, 
and,  as  it  were,  regenerated  and  gathered  into  one 
blessed  company,  and  glorified  once  more  as  the  wit- 
nesses of  the  Eternal."  1 

It  was,  however,  not  all  at  once  that  the  Church 
developed  out  of  the  deposit  of  truth  committed  to 
her  guardianship  the  full  meaning  of  each  doctrine,  and 
placed  it  in  its  proper  relationship  to  other  truths  of 
the  faith.  Only  as  time  went  on  and  heresies  arose  did 
she  examine  each  region  of  doctrine,  define  the  truth 
in  exact  language,  and  explain  its  place  in  the  great 
fabric  of  the  faith  of  the  Gospel.  To  this  careful  un- 
folding and  explaining  of  the  truths  of  the  faith  we 
owe  the  Creeds  of  the  Church.  Each  Article  repre- 
sents either  a  battle  with  heresy,  or  the  determination 
of  a  controversy,  or  the  accentuation  of  the  vital 
importance   of    some   fact    or   doctrine.      But    besides 

■^  H.  E,  Manning  (1845),  The  Unity  of  the  Churchy  p.  205. 


Patristic  Teaching  on  Future  Pitrijicatioji      227 

those  great  and  fundamental  dogmas  that  found  a 
place  in  the  Catholic  Creed,  there  were  other  points 
of  doctrine  that  gradually  became  more  clear  to  the 
Church.  Among  these  we  may  include  the  doctrine  of 
the  Intermediate  State  of  the  soul.  The  Fathers,  as 
we  have  seen,  received  from  the  Apostles  the  tradition 
of  the  value  of  prayer  for  the  departed,  so  that  while 
we  have  proof  that  such  prayers  were  common  in  the 
Church  shortly  after  the  death  of  St.  John,  we  have 
no  hint  in  any  orthodox  writer  that  these  prayers 
were  ever  looked  upon  as  other  than  the  charitable 
expression  of  the  hope  that  sprang  from  Christian 
faith.  It  was,  however,  only  after  a  lapse  of  several 
centuries  that  anything  like  a  definite  doctrine  as  to 
the  soul  between  the  death  and  resurrection  of  the 
body  was  formulated,  and  even  then  there  was  not 
an  absolute  agreement  on  all  points  throughout  the 
whole  Church,  but  the  West  differed  in  some  respects 
from  the  East. 

This  difference,  of  which  we  have  seen  signs  in  the 
writings  of  St.  John  Chrysostom  and  St.  Augustine, 
was  later  on  associated  with  the  doctrine  of  purgatory. 
It  will  therefore  be  well  briefly  to  trace  the  growth  of 
this  doctrine,  and  to  note  how  far  the  East  and  West 
were  agreed  in  their  teaching ;  we  may  thus  arrive  at 
the  Catholic  belief — i.e.  what  was  (and  is)  held  by  the 
whole  Church  of  God.  In  this  chapter  we  will  confine 
ourselves  to  the  Patristic  doctrines  as  to  the  purification 
of  the  soul  after  death. 


2  28  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

There  can  be  no  question  that  in  Holy  Scripture 
much  stress  is  laid  upon  the  necessity  of  repentance, 
and  that  by  repentance  is  meant  not  only  the  essential 
turning  of  the  heart  from  sin  to  God  but  also  the 
bringing  forth  of  fruits  worthy  of  repentance.  This 
Bible  teaching  was  emphasised  in  the  penitential 
discipline  that  held  so  prominent  a  place  in  the  primi- 
tive Church,  and  is  the  more  worthy  of  notice  because 
the  mere  profession  of  the  Christian  faith  during  the 
first  centuries  involved  a  more  or  less  suffering  life, 
and  might  therefore  have  been  supposed  to  make 
voluntary  self-discipline  almost  needless.  Every  degree 
of  persecution — from  comparatively  trivial  insults  up 
to  the  supreme  trial  of  martyrdom — awaited  those 
who  separated  themselves  from  the  heathen  world 
and  embraced  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  yet  the 
Church  expected  all  her  children  to  share  in  her  fasts, 
in  her  almsdeeds,  and  in  all  those  daily  acts  of  for- 
bearance and  kindness  that  could  not  be  practised 
without  self-sacrifice.  In  case  of  certain  serious  sins 
that  gave  public  scandal  she  also  demanded  long 
periods  of  penance  and  exclusion  from  the  more  solemn 
parts  of  the  Eucharist ;  absolution  was  only  granted 
after  the  penitent  had  brought  forth  fruits  meet  for 
repentance.^ 

Such  being  the  condition  of  Christian  life  in  the  sub- 
apostolic  age,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  Church  taught 

^  See  what  is  said  about  this  "godly  discipline"  and  "worthy  fruits  of 
penance  "  in  A  Commination  Service  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 


Patristic  Teaching  on  Future  Purification     229 

her  persecuted  children  to  look  forward  with  confidence 
and  longing  hope  to  the  time  when  they  should  enter 
into  the  joy  of  their  Lord.  It  might  even  be  that 
He  would  Himself  return  before  they  were  called  away, 
but  in  any  case  the  Church  would  have  them  to  know 
that  the  sufferings  of  this  present  time  were  not  worthy 
to  be  compared  with  the  glory  that  should  be  revealed. 
The  trials  of  life  would  soon  be  over,  and  then,  they 
who  had  fought  the  good  fight  and  kept  the  faith  unto 
the  end  would  enter  into  peace  and  rest ;  they  would 
be  with  their  Lord,  awaiting  the  time  of  the  resurrection 
of  the  body,  when  they  would  receive  the  fulness  of 
eternal  beatitude. 

But  even  so,  and  in  spite  of  her  desire  to  rob  death  of 
its  terror,  the  Church  had  another  aspect  of  the  future 
state  to  disclose.  Had  not  the  Apostle  said,  "The  fire 
shall  try  every  man's  work  of  what  sort  it  is.  If  any 
man's  work  abide  ...  he  shall  receive  a  reward.  If 
any  man's  work  shall  be  burned,  he  shall  suffer  loss : 
but  he  himself  shall  be  saved ;  yet  so  as  by  fire "  ?  ^ 
Had  not  the  Master  Himself  said,  in  speaking  of  the 
life  after  death,  "  Every  one  shall  be  salted  with  fire  ?  "  ^ 
And  so,  because  of  these  words,  so  often  commented 
upon  by  the  Fathers,  there  grew  up  the  belief  that 
not  only  here  on  earth  must  the  soul  be  disciplined 
by  griefs  and  trials  but  even  in  the  perhaps  far  off 
future  judgment  all  would  pass  through  some  terrible 
ordeal,    in    which    the    chaff    would    be    burned    and 

^  I  Cor.  iii.  13-15,  ^  St.  Mark  ix.  49. 


230  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

consumed,  while  the  fine  gold  would  be  rendered  more 
bright  and  all  that  was  stained  would  be  purified. 
From  this  "judgment-day  purgatory"  none,  it  was 
thought,  would  be  exempted.  The  souls  already  per- 
fected would — like  the  three  children  of  old — receive 
no  hurt,  but,  on  the  contrary,  they  would  reap  a  richer 
reward  and  receive  additional  glory ;  others,  who  up  till 
then  were  stained  and  imperfect,  would  suffer,  and  yet 
through  suffering  be  made  perfect — "saved,  yet  so  as  by 
fire,"  while  the  wholly  reprobate  would  be  consumed  by 
the  heavy  wrath  of  God. 

Thus  even  in  the  days  when  the  mere  profession  of 
Christianity  brought  suffering,  discipline,  and  loss,  to  all 
who  separated  themselves  from  the  heathen  or  Jewish 
world  and  became  the  disciples  of  the  Crucified,  the 
Church  was  not  inclined  to  pass  over  the  mention 
of  the  severity  of  the  judgment  of  God,  or  ignore  that 
fiery  trial  that  awaited — it  was  thought — even  the  very 
elect. 

In  this  teaching  of  Holy  Scripture  as  to  the  need 
of  repentance  manifesting  itself  in  works  of  penance, 
and  the  severity  of  the  coming  judgment,  we  have 
what  is  probably  the  first  preparation  of  the  Christian 
mind  for  the  doctrine  of  purgatory.  The  pardon  of 
the  sinner  did  not  in  this  life  involve  the  eradication  of 
all  tendency  to  sin.  That  was  often  effected  by  the  en- 
durance of  some  punishment.  It  was  remembered  that 
David  after  his  great  fall  was  pardoned  and  yet  had  to 
suffer  the  loss  of  his  child  and  the  continual  rebellion 


Patristic  Teaching  on  Ftiture  Purification     2  3 1 

of  those  near  to  him.  We  read  that  David  said  unto 
Nathan,  "I  have  sinned  against  the  Lord.  And  Nathan 
said  unto  David,  The  Lord  also  hath  put  away  thy  sin  ; 
thou  shalt  not  die.  Howbeit,  because  by  this  deed  thou 
hast  given  great  occasion  to  the  enemies  of  the  Lord 
to  blaspheme,  the  child  also  that  is  born  unto  thee  shall 
surely  die,"  and  "  the  sword  shall  never  depart  from  thy 
house." ^  This  punishment  of  forgiven  sin  became  known 
as  the  temporal  punishment  due  to  sin,  to  distinguish 
it  from  the  eternal  penalty  that  was  remitted  together 
with  the  guilt.  This  temporal  punishment  was  not  a 
satisfaction  due  to  the  justice  of  God,  but  a  safeguard  to 
the  sinner  and  a  warning  to  others.  The  Divine  Master 
had  plainly  said  that,  while  he  who  knew  his  Lord's 
will  and  did  it  not  should  be  beaten  with  many  stripes, 
yet  even  he  who  sinned  ignorantly  should  not  alto- 
gether escape  correction — he  should  be  "  beaten  with 
few  stripes."  2  Had  He  not  also  said,  speaking  through 
His  Apostle,  "  Whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  thai  shall 
he  also  reap "  ?  ^  Would  this  be  strictly  true  if  the 
sinner  who  turned  to  God  only  on  his  death-bed, 
after  a  life  of  sin  and  neglect  of  God,  were  at  once 
numbered  with  the  saints  in  glory  everlasting?  Was 
not  the  promise  given  to  the  penitent  thief — that  he 
should  pass  at  once  to  the  presence  of  his  Lord  in 
Paradise — an  altogether  exceptional  reward  for  an 
absolutely   unique   act   of  faith   and   repentance?     Or, 

^  2  Sam.  xii.  lo,  13,  14.  ^  St.  Luke  xii.  47,  48. 

^  Gal.  vi.  7. 


232  The  Soul  in  the  Unsee^t  World 

was  not  the  cross  itself,  accepted  as  the  due  reward 
of  his  deeds,  that  very  temporal  punishment  of  which 
we  have  been  speaking?  Certainly,  according  to  the 
current  Jewish  tradition  of  that  time,  the  thief  would 
not  have  been  thought  of  as  passing  at  once  to  Paradise. 
If  he  was  capable  of  salvation,  he  would  have  been 
thought  of  as  temporarily  punished  in  Gehenna  before 
he  could  hope  to  be  admitted  into  Abraham's  Bosom. 

Our  Lord's  promise,  "To-day  thou  shalt  be  with  Me 
in  Paradise,"  implied  not  only  the  remission  of  guilt, 
but  also  the  removal  of  all  the  evil  habits  that  had 
been  formed  in  the  robber's  soul,  and  the  bestowal  of 
all  those  graces  that  are  essential  to  the  spirit  that 
is  admitted  to  the  presence  of  God.  In  any  case  the 
promise  made  to  the  penitent  thief  can  be  no  guarantee 
to  those  who  have  been  brought  up  in  the  Christian 
Church  and  have  not  profited  by  it,  but  only  with  a 
tardy  and  weak  faith  turned  to  God  at  their  last  hour. 
Those  who  have  not  been  crucified  with  Christ  here, 
through  a  willing  bearing  of  the  cross,  must — it  may 
be  supposed — be  disciplined  hereafter  if  they  are  ever 
to  be  conformed  to  the  image  of  the  Crucified  and 
numbered  with  those  who  have  come  "out  of  great 
tribulation."  ^ 

From  much  that  we  read  in  the  writings  of  the 
Fathers  of  the  early  Church,  it  would  seem  that  some 
such  belief  as  to  the  future  state  was  either  already 
theirs   or   steadily   growing   upon    their   consciousness. 

^  Rev.  vii.  14 


Pati'istic  TeacJiing  on  Future  Purification     233 

They  write  as  if  they  believed  that  the  faithful 
Christian — who  had  been  so  conformed  to  Christ  here 
on  earth  by  the  sufferings  that  were  entailed  in  the 
acceptance  of  the  faith,  and  by  patient  bearing  of  the 
cross — was  at  death  at  once  perfected  and  passed  to 
his  reward  with  Christ  in  Paradise.  Whether  they 
thought  that  this  perfecting  of  the  soul  was  brought 
about  by  some  intense  act  of  love  towards  God  at 
the  moment  when  the  soul  left  the  body,  or  in  some 
other  way,  they  do  not  tell  us.  We  know  that  some 
great  teachers  in  the  later  Church  held  that  such  an 
act  of  love  and  contrition  is  made  in  the  first  instant 
of  the  soul's  separation  from  the  body,  and  that  this 
act  suffices  of  itself,  through  the  merits  of  Christ,  to 
remove  all  stain  of  sin  from  the  soul.  It  may  be  that 
this  was  implicitly  held  by  those  Fathers  who  speak  as 
if  all  but  the  very  sinful  were  at  once  admitted  to 
Paradise.  Certainly  the  idea  of  suffering  has  never 
been  associated  with  the  thought  of  Paradise  except 
by  a  few  very  modern  x^nglican  writers  who,  apparently 
to  conciliate  prejudice,  and  at  the  same  time  not  al- 
together part  company  with  the  entire  Catholic  Church 
from  the  first,  have  invented  the  doctrine  that  Paradise 
is  a  kind  of  modified  Purgatory.^     The  word  Paradise 

^  Dr.  Wright,  in  his  book,  The  Intermediate  State  (p.  60),  truly 
says  :  ' '  The  word  Paradise  is  never  used  in  the  Apocrypha  of  any  place 
of  training,  or  school  for  the  righteous,  in  Hades.  The  notion  of  as- 
sociating that  idea  with  Paradise  has  no  foothold  in  any  Jewish,  or  partly 
Jewish,  work  of  antiquity."  This  is  also  true  of  any  Christian  orthodox 
work  of  anti(juity. 


.  rs.       Of 


2  34  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

is  a  generic  term,  used  always  of  a  place  of  delight, 
and  therefore  applied  in  the  New  Testament  to  Heaven 
itself.  It  excludes  the  idea  of  pain.  Now,  it  is  im- 
possible to  exclude  pain  from  the  perfecting  process 
by  which  the  souls  of  the  saved  but  imperfect  and 
sin-stained,  are  rendered  fit  for  the  Vision  of  God. 
The  pain  may  be  entirely  spiritual,  but  it  is  in  any 
form  incompatible  with  the  notion  of  Paradise,  even 
if  Paradise  be  not  (as  Irenseus  and  others  distinctly 
taught)  a  part  of  Heaven. 

The  early  Fathers  taught  little  or  nothing  as  to  what 
was  the  condition  of  the  imperfect  souls  who  passed 
out  of  this  life  before  they  had  time  to  bring  forth  any 
fruits  meet  for  repentance,  or  were  perhaps  called  away 
at  the  beginning  of  a  period  of  penitential  discipline 
allotted  to  them  after  some  crime.  Such  souls  were 
unfit  for  Paradise,  and  yet  having  departed  repentant, 
they  were,  it  was  hoped,  among  the  "saved."  They 
might  be  thought  of  as  sleeping  in  unconsciousness 
until  the  resurrection,  and  then  perfected  by  the  fiery 
trial  of  the  great  and  terrible  day  of  the  Lord — 
"  saved,  yet  so  as  by  fire  " — or  they  might  be  thought 
of  as  passing  into  an  intermediate  place  of  purification 
and  progress,  and  either  attaining  to  Paradise  after  the 
resurrection,  or  whenever  the  work  of  their  sanctification 
was  completed. 

There  are,  no  doubt,  words  to  be  found  here  and 
there  in  the  voluminous  writings  of  the  Fathers  that,  if 
they  stood  alone,  might  be  understood  as  teaching  the 


Patristic  Teaching  on  Future  Purification     235 

sleep  of  the  soul.  The  same  is  true  of  some  expressions 
used  in  Holy  Writ,  but  the  drift  of  both  the  teaching 
of  Holy  Scripture  and  the  Fathers  is  most  decidedly 
against  the  literal  interpretation  of  such  passages.  The 
Bible  certainly  uses  the  word  "sleep"  in  connection  with 
death,  but  it  probably  refers  to  the  appearance  of  the 
body,  and  to  the  withdrawal  of  the  soul  from  the 
concerns  and  activities  of  this  life.  There  remains, 
then,  the  possibility  that  the  imperfect  pass  at  death 
to  an  intermediate  place,  and  either  remain  there  until 
the  resurrection  or  until  they  are  able  to  be  classed 
among  the  "  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect."  This 
last  belief  is  that  to  which  the  Holy  Spirit  finally 
guided  the  Church. 

The  Fathers,  however,  do  not  give  any  distinct  name 
to  the  place  in  which  they  supposed  the  imperfect 
awaited  their  entry  into  Paradise.  Broadly  speaking, 
the  early  Fathers  knew  of  but  two  states  hereafter — 
one  of  joy  and  one  of  sorrow.  The  state  of  bliss  in 
its  perfection  was  called  Heaven ;  the  state  of  sorrow 
in  its  fulness  Hell.  Perhaps,  on  the  whole,  it  would 
not  be  far  wrong  to  say  that  the  drift  of  Patristic  teach- 
ing would  tend  towards  looking  upon  Paradise  as  that 
part  of  Heaven  in  which  the  holy  dead  were  with 
Christ,  beholding  God  in  Christ — a  state  of  unalloyed 
bliss  that  after  the  resurrection  would  be  so  intensi- 
fied as  to  become  a  state  of  glory  that  admitted  of 
no  increase. 

But  as  in   Heaven  there  are  many  mansions,  many 


236  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

degrees  of  glory,  so  it  would  seem  that  the  Fathers 
thought  of  many  mansions  also  in  Hades. 

Hades  included  the '  whole  nether  world,  frequently 
called  by  the  Fathers  the  inferi,  or  tnfernus,  i.e.  the 
infernal  regions,  or  lower  parts  of  the  earth.  In  Hades, 
therefore,  was  the  place  in  which  the  righteous  dead 
had  been  detained  until  our  Lord  "  descended  into  hell " 
and  accomplished  their  deliverance.  This  place  had 
never  been  a  place  of  positive  suffering ;  it  was  emptied 
when  at  His  resurrection  the  risen  Lord  "  led  forth  the 
expectant  saints  to  light."  But  in  Hades  was  also  the 
place  of  suffering,  called  Gehenna  by  the  Jews,  and 
Tartarus  by  the  Greeks.  Gehenna,  again,  was  thought 
of  by  the  Jews  as  the  place  in  which  the  reprobate  were 
punished  and  the  imperfect  purified  and  made  ready 
for  Paradise. 

Now,  it  is  here  that  we  find  a  difficulty  in  the  writings 
of  the  Fathers.  They  were  not  agreed  as  to  whether 
Paradise  after  the  Ascension  should  be  thought  of  as 
belonging  to  the  inferi — the  nether  world — or  to  the 
supernal  regions.  They  were,  however,  quite  agreed  in 
regarding  Paradise  as  a  state  of  rest  and  joy.  Those 
Fathers  who  wrote  of  Paradise  as  if  it  were  still  a  part 
of  the  inferi,  i.e.  of  Hades  (as  it  had  been  indeed  before 
the  Resurrection  of  our  Lord),  probably  did  so  because 
of  the  past  associations  of  the  word,  and  because  the 
Jews  (who  of  course  did  not  allow  that  the  Passion  and 
Resurrection  had  altered  the  state  of  the  dead)  still 
spoke  of  Paradise  as  a  part  of  Hades.     These  Fathers, 


Patristic  Teaching  on  F^itiire  Purification     237 

nevertheless,  held  that  the  souls  of  the  perfectly 
righteous  were  with  Christ,  although  they  wrote  of  them 
as  if  they  were  in  Hades.  1  This  as  time  went  on  was 
seen  to  be  a  mistake,  since  Christ  after  His  descent  into 
Hades  quitted  it  and  then  at  His  Resurrection  ascended 
into  Heaven.  It  became  clear  that  if  the  righteous  were 
with  Christ  they  could  not  be  in  Hades.     St.  Irenaeus 

^  St.  Thomas  Aquinas  writes  thus :  "  The  souls  of  men  could  only 
attain  rest  after  death  through  faith.  Abraham  was  the  best  example  of 
faith,  as  he  was  the  first  to  withdraw  himself  from  the  multitude  of 
the  unbelieving  :  hence  the  rest  that  was  given  after  this  life  to  men  was 
called  Abraham's  bosom.  But  the  souls  of  the  righteous  have  not  always 
enjoyed  the  same  degree  of  re»t.  After  the  coming  of  Christ  their  rest 
was  full,  and  they  enjoyed  the  Divine  Vision,  but  before  the  coming  of 
Christ  they  had  indeed  rest  from  pain,  but  they  had  not  that  rest  which 
comes  from  the  attainment  of  their  end,  which  they  still  desired.  Hence 
the  state  of  the  righteous  souls  before  the  coming  of  Christ  may  be  looked 
at  from  the  point  of  view  of  what  they  possessed,  and  so  called  Abraham's 
bosom,  or  from  the  point  of  view  of  what  they  lacked,  and  so  be  called 
the  limbus  of  hell  {li?nbus  inferni).  This  Limbus  of  the  infernal  regions 
and  Abraham's  bosom  were  accidentally  one  and  the  same  before  Christ's 
coming,  but  they  were  not  per  se  necessarily  one.  Hence  after  Christ's 
coming  nothing  hindered  that  Abraham's  bosom  should  still  exist  and  yet 
be  altogether  a  different  plaqe  from  Limbus  {i.e.  Hades),  because  what  is 
only  accidentally  one  is  capable  of  being  separated.  It  is  to  be  main- 
tained, therefore,  that  on  account  of  its  blessedness  the  state  of  the  holy 
fathers  was  called  Abraham's  bosom,  and  on  account  of  its  imperfection — 
infermis  {i.e.  Hades),  and  so  Abraham's  bosom  is  not  to  be  thought  badly 
of,  nor  Hades  thought  well  of,  though  they  were  in  a  certain  sense  one 
and  the  same.  Moreover,  as  the  place  in  which  the  fathers  rested  before 
Christ  came  was  called  Abraham's  bosom,  so  also  it  was  still  called  by 
that  name  after  He  had  come,  but  in  a  different  sense,  because  before  His 
coming  their  state  was  not  one  of  perfect  rest  and  therefore  it  was  called 
Hades  {infernus)  as  well  as  Abraham's  bosom,  but  after  His  coming  their 
rest  lacked  nothing,  since  they  had  the  Vision  of  God,  and  it  was  therefore 
still  called  Abraham's  bosom,  but  never  Hades.  To  this  bosom  of  Abraham 
the  Church  prays  that  the  souls  of  the  departed  may  be  brought." — 
Summa.  SuppL^  q.  Ixix.  art.  iv. 


238  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

clearly  taught  that  Paradise  is  a  part  of  Heaven,  though 
he  thought  none  were  admitted  into  it  until  after  the 
resurrection  of  the  body.  Tertullian  also  in  one  treatise 
distinguished  between  Hades  and  Abraham's  Bosom, 
for  he  wrote :  "  The  inferi  are  one  place,  I  deem,  and 
Abraham's  Bosom  another";^  but  elsewhere  he  speaks 
as  if  the  place  where  the  righteous  are  "  cherished  "  and 
the  others  are  " punished  "  were  both  "in  the  inferi'"^ 
Origen  says  that  at  death  "  some  go  into  the  place  called 
infernus^  some  into  Abraham's  Bosom,  and  into  different 
places  or  mansions."  St.  Hippolitus^  and  St.  Jerome,* 
on  the  contrary,  speak  of  botlT  the  righteous  and  the 
imperfect  as  equally  in  Hades,  though  the  one  com- 
forted and  the  other  tormented. 

Another  writer  is  more  clear,  though  he  does  not  dis- 
tinguish between  the  unjust  who  are  altogether  repro- 
bate and  those  who  are  destined  eventually  for  Paradise  : 
"  After  the  departure  from  the  body  forthwith  there 
takes  place  the  distinction  of  the  just  and  unjust.  For 
they  are  led  by  the  angels  to  the  places  meet  for  them  ; 

1  Adv,  Marc.  iv.  34. 

2  "Why  shouldest  thou  not  think  that  the  soul  is  both  punished  and 
cherished  in  the  mferi,  under  the  expectation  of  either  judgment,  in  a  sort 
of  anticipation  of  it?" — De  Ani/na,  n.  58. 

^  "  Passing  the  gates  [of  Hades],  those  who  are  brought  dowji  by  the 
angels  set  over  souls,  go  not  by  one  way ;  but  the  just,  light-led  to  the 
right "  to  the  place  "  called  Abraham's  bosom  ;  but  the  unjust  are  dragged 
by  avenging  angels  to  the  left  ...  to  i\iQ  conjines  of  hell." — St.  Hippol., 
Adv.  GrcEC.  et  Plat.  n.  i..  Gall.  ii.  451,  452. 

*  ^^  Infermis  is  a  place  in  which  souls  are  laid  up  either  in  refreshment 
or  in  pains,  according  to  the  quality  of  their  deserts," — St.  Jerome,  /// 
Os.  xiii.  14,  t.  vi.  p.  152,  Vail. 


Patristic  Teaching  on  Future  Pnrification     239 

the  souls  of  the  just  to  Paradise,  where  is  the  converse 
and  sight  of  angels  and  archangels  and  of  the  Saviour 
Christ  in  vision,  as  it  is  written,  '  being  absent  from  the 
body  and  present  with  the  Lord ' ;  but  the  souls  of  the 
unjust  to  the  place  of  Hades."^  And  once  more:  "We 
learn  from  the  Scriptures  that  the  souls  of  sinners  are 
in  Hades,  below  all  earth  and  sea,  as  the  Psalms  say, 
and  as  is  written  in  Job.  But  the  souls  of  the  just  (after 
the  coming  of  Christ)  .  .  .  are  in  Paradise.  For  Christ 
our  God  did  not  open  Paradise  for  the  soul  of  the  holy 
robber  alone,  but  for  all  the  souls  of  the  holy  thereafter."^ 
Thus,  although  the  Fathers  knew  of  but  two  main 
abodes  of  the  dead — Heaven  and  Hades — yet  in  each  of 
these  there  were  supposed  to  be  many  degrees  of  glory 
or  suffering.  It  was  evidently,  therefore,  in  Hades  that 
the  Fathers  believed  that  the  souls  of  the  imperfect  were 
detained,  and  awaited,  either  the  final  judgment,  or  else 
the  time  when  the  work  of  their  purification  should  be 
finished.  It  is  difficult  to  say  if  they  thought  of  these 
souls  as  detained  in  that  abode  in  Hades  where — until 
the  resurrection  of  our  Lord — the  righteous  dead  had 
been  detained,  or  if  they  thought  that  the  imperfect 
were  in  the  same  abode  as  the  reprobate,  and  thus 
literally  "  shut  out  with  the  condemned."  The  Eastern 
Church  has  always  refused  to  allow  that  the  imperfect 
suffered  the  torment  of  a  purgatorial  fire.  Some 
Eastern  Fathers  seem  to  teach  that  these  souls  suffer 

1  Qu.  et  resp.  ad  Orthod.,  p.  75  ;  in  St.  Justin  AT.,  App.,  p.  470. 
^  Qu.  ad  Anlioch.,  q.  19,  in  St.  Alhinasius^  OpP-  ii-  '^1^- 


240  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

only  the  negative  "  pain  of  loss/'  which  consists  in  their 
being  for  a  time  deprived  of  the  Vision  of  God.  This 
and  the  teaching  of  their  ancient  Liturgies  would  cer- 
tainly suggest  the  belief  that  the  imperfect  are  in  the 
place  where  the  righteous  dead  awaited  the  opening  of 
the  heavens  by  our  Lord  ;  thus  they  might  be  spoken 
of  as  in  "  Hell "  {i.e.  Hades)  and  yet  in  a  state  of  com- 
parative happiness.  This  too  would  explain  the  fact 
that  prayers  were  sometimes  offered  for  the  refreshment, 
peace,  and  rest  of  the  souls  of  the  dead,  who  were  never- 
theless spoken  of  as  if  they  already  enjoyed  in  a  measure 
the  blessings  that  were  desired  for  them.  Such  prayers 
would  be  a  petition  that  the  souls  who  were  already  so 
far  at  rest  that  they  were  sure  of  their  final  salvation,^ 
were  no  longer  harassed  with  the  trials  and  anxieties  of 
this  life,  and  were  perhaps  also  conscious  of  a  growing 
nearness  to  God,  might  attain  the  fuller  rest,  the  perfect 
joy  of  the  Vision  of  God  in  Paradise. 

There  was,  however,  another  aspect  of  the  state  of 
these  imperfect  souls.  If  they  were  thought  of  as 
already  in  some  degree  enjoying  rest  and  peace,  yet 
they  were  excluded  from  Paradise;  they  were  in  the 
inferi,  not  in  the  supernal  realms ;  they  were,  that  is  to 
say,  in  Hades,  not  in  Heaven. 

Hence  we  may  say  that  by  the  time  of  St.  Augustine 
the  whole  Church — East  and  West — had  arrived  at  the 

1  But  here  again  is  the  difficulty  that  St.  John  Chrysostom — apparently 
speaking  of  the  common  belief  of  his  day — implies  that  some  of  the  im- 
perfect, if  not  all  of  them,  were  not  sure  of  salvation. 


Pati'istic  Teaching  on  Future  Pttrijication     241 

belief  that  the  souls  of  the  imperfect  were,  to  quote 
the  words  of  St.  John  Chrysostom,  "outside  the  Palace," 
and  therefore  in  so  far  as  they  were  outside  the  Palace 
they  were  said  to  be  "with  the  culprits,  with  the  con- 
demned," and  not  "  with  Christ."  It  was,  as  we  have 
seen,  for  these  souls  especially  that  the  Church  was 
fervent  in  prayers  and  in  offering  the  "awful  Sacrifice." 
Such  souls  were  indeed  in  need  of  all  that  could  be 
done  for  them,  since  although  they  were  capable  of 
salvation  they,  perhaps,  were  not  aware  of  this,  and 
were  not  yet  clothed  with  the  perfect  robe  of  the 
spotless  righteousness  of  Christ.  The  absence  of  guilt 
is  by  no  means  the  same  thing  as  the  possession  of 
sanctity.  The  one  is  a  negative,  the  other  a  positive 
state.  The  removal  of  the  filthy  garments  from  Joshua 
the  high  priest  was  but  a  preparation  for  his  being 
clothed  in  robes  of  glory.  Thus  it  is  written,  "  Take 
away  the  filthy  garments  from  him.  And  unto  him 
he  said,  Behold,  I  have  caused  thine  iniquity  to  pass 
from  thee,  and  I  will  clothe  thee  with  change  of 
raiment."  ^  Repentance  strips  a  man  of  his  filthy 
garments,  but  the  putting  on  of  Christ  is  another 
matter. 

If  a  man  be  not  perfectly  clothed  with  the  glory 
of  the  righteousness  of  Christ  here,  he  certainly  must 
be  hereafter,  if  he  is  ever  to  enter  Heaven. 

When  we  ask  the  question,  whether  or  no  the 
Fathers  taught   that  the  souls  of  the  imperfect  were 

^  Zech.  iii.  4. 


242  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

made  "perfect  through  suffering"  of  a  more  positive 
kind  than  the  deprivation  of  the  Vision  of  God,  we 
come  to  a  point  on  which  the  East  and  West  eventually 
came  to  the  same  conclusion,  though  differing  in  details. 
Speaking  generally,  the  earlier  Eastern  Fathers  did  not 
go  beyond  the  assertion  that — as  the  Vision  of  God  is 
not  granted  to  any  except  the  spirits  of  the  just  made 
perfect,  in  Heaven — the  souls  of  the  imperfect  detained 
in  Hades  do  not  enjoy  the  Beatific  Vision  ;  they  suffer, 
that  is  to  say,  the  poena  dajnni—ih.Q  pain  of  loss.  In 
the  West,  on  the  contrary,  we  find  a  growing  inclination 
to  interpret  the  words  of  St.  Paul,  "saved,  yet  so  as 
by  fire,"  in  a  more  literal  way.  St.  Augustine  returns 
to  this  passage  again  and  again  in  various  parts  of  his 
writings.  At  one  time  he  interprets  it  quite  figuratively, 
at  another  he  inclines  to  something  very  like  the  more 
modern  belief  of  the  Schoolmen,  that  the  sufferings  in 
Hades  are  due  not  only  to  the  pain  of  loss,  but  also 
to  sensible  torments  that  are  inflicted  by  material 
fire.  This  belief  was  not  by  any  means  the  invention 
of  St.  Augustine ;  it  had  been  expressed  in  more  or 
less  figurative  language  by  some  of  the  earlier  Fathers. 
But  it  was  undoubtedly  due  to  St.  Augustine  that 
the  doctrine  became  the  popular  belief  of  the  whole 
Western  Church  for  many  centuries^  and  has  main- 
tained a  firm  hold  upon  the  belief  of  the  Roman 
Church  down  to  the  present  day.  Among  the  Fathers 
who  wrote  as  if  the  souls  of  the  imperfect  suffered  not 
only   the   pain   of   loss,   but    also    the   pain   of   sense 


Patristic  Teaching  on  Future  Purification     243 

{poena  sensus),  may  be  mentioned  Tertullian,  Clement 
of  Alexandria,  and  St.  Cyprian.  In  his  Stromata, 
St.  Clement  (second  century)  writes :  "  The  believer, 
through  great  discipline,  divesting  himself  of  the 
passions,  passes  to  the  mansion  which  is  better  than 
the  former  one,  taking  with  him  the  characteristic 
of  repentance  (iSloojULa  rrj?  juLeravoiag)  for  the  sins  he 
has  committed  after  baptism.  He  is  tormented  then 
still  more,  not  yet  or  quite  attaining  what  he  sees 
others  to  have  acquired.  Besides,  he  is  also  ashamed 
of  his  transgressions.  The  greatest  torments  are  in- 
deed assigned  to  the  believer.  For  God's  righteous- 
ness is  good,  and  His  goodness  is  righteous.  And 
though  the  punishments  cease  in  the  course  of  the 
completion  of  the  expiation  and  purification  of  each 
one,  yet  those  have  very  great  and  permanent  grief 
who  are  found  worthy  of  the  other  fold,  on  account 
of  not  being  along  with  those  that  have  been  glorified 
through  righteousness."^  In  another  passage  there  is 
a  possible  reference  to  the  same  belief  in  the  words : 
"  We  say  that  the  fire  sanctifies  not  flesh,  but  sinful 
souls ;  meaning  not  the  all-devouring  vulgar  fire,  but 
that  discriminating  [cppovijULov]  fire  which  pervades  the 
soul  that  passes  through  it."^ 

St.  Cyprian  writes :  "  It  is  one  thing  to  stand  for 
pardon,  another  to  arrive  at  glory ;  one  thing  for  him 
who  has  been  cast  into  prison  not  to  go  out  thence 
till    he   has    paid    the    uttermost   farthing,   another    to 

1  Stromata^  vi.  14.  '^  Stioviaia,  vii.  6. 


244  ^^'^  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

receive  at  once  the  reward  of  faith  and  virtue ;  one 
thing  for  a  man  to  be  tortured  for  his  sins  by  lengthened 
anguish,  and  thus  to  be  cleansed  and  purged  by  long 
exposure  to  the  fire,  another  to  have  washed  away  all  his 
sins  in  martyrdom  ;  in  a  word,  it  is  one  thing  to  wait  in 
suspense  unto  the  day  of  judgment  for  the  Lord's  sen- 
tence, another  to  be  immediately  crowned  by  the  Lord."i 

We  have  already  quoted  one  well-known  passage 
from  the  writings  of  St.  Augustine,^  so  that  it  will  be 
sufficient  here  to  show  that  he  thought  it  quite  possible 
that  the  sufferings  of  the  soul  in  the  intermediate  state 
of  purification  might  be  very  severe.  He  writes  :  "  .  .  . 
for  all  that,  though  we  be  saved  by  fire,  yet  will  that  fire 
be  more  grievous  than  anything  whatsoever  a  man  can 
suffer  in  this  life.  And  you  know  how  great  sufferings 
bad  men  have  endured,  and  may  endure ;  yet  their 
sufferings  are  only  just  so  great  as  good  men  may 
have  endured  also.  .  .  .  The  evils  which  are  [endured] 
here  are  far  more  tolerable  [than  those  hereafter]  ;  yet 
observe  how  men  often  do  anything  which  you  com- 
mand them,  that  they  may  not  suffer  them.  How 
much  better  it  would  be  if  they  would  also  do  what 
God  commands,  th^t  they  might  not  suffer  those  more 
grievous  ills  "  ^  hereafter ! 

To  sum  up  what  may  be  gathered  from  the  Fathers 
as  to  a  state  of  progress  and  purification  after  death 
we  may  say:    (i)  That  all  who  speak  on  the  subject 

^  Epist.  55,  ad  Antonianus,  i6. 

^  See  pp.  216-7.  ^  On  Psalm  xxxviii.,  verse  i. 


Patristic  Teaching  on  Fttture  Purification     245 

taught  either  a  judgment-day  purification  or  Purgatory- 
through  which  all  must  pass,  or  (2)  a  purification  pre- 
paratory to  a  millennial  reign  of  Christ  on  the  earth, 
or  lastly  (3)  an  intermediate  state  of  purification  in 
Hades  ending  either  at  the  judgment  or  when  the  work 
of  the  soul's  perfecting  was  accomplished,  before  the 
resurrection  of  the  body.  This  last  belief  certainly 
approaches  very  nearly  to  the  doctrine  that  became 
identified  in  the  later  Church  with  the  word  "  Purgatory." 
It  differed,  however,  from  the  later  doctrine  in  this,  at 
least — that  the  imperfect  were  not  at  this  time  always 
thought  of  as  certainly  saved,  but  rather  as  capable 
of  salvation.  They  were  (as  we  shall  see)  sometimes 
prayed  for  as  if  it  yet  remained  to  be  seen  if  "  hell " 
would  "  swallow  them  up,"  or  if  they  should  eventually 
be  delivered  from  its  power  and  enter  Paradise.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  at  all  that  at  first  the  idea  of  Purgatory 
— in  anything  like  the  present  meaning  of  the  word — 
was  a  private  opinion  of  some  few  of  the  Fathers,  put 
forward  speculatively.  We  find  no  suggestion  of  it 
in  the  Liturgies.  The  public  prayers  of  the  Church 
were  from  the  first  offered  for  the  rest,  peace  and 
refreshment  of  the  departed,  and  sometimes  also  for 
freedom  and  release ;  not,  however,  from  the  fires  of 
Purgatory  as  a  distinct  place  of  suffering,  but  from 
sin  and  its  consequence — eternal  captivity  in  Gehenna, 
the  penal  part  of  Hades.  Prayers  and  oblations  for 
the  departed  were  universal ;  but  every  kind  of  opinion 
existed  as  to  the  meaning  and  effect  of  those  prayers. 


246  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

The  whole  Church  of  God  from  the  very  first  un- 
questionably attached  the  greatest  importance  to  prayers, 
both  public  and  private,  for  the  departed,  but  the  Church 
was  content  simply  to  pray,  give  alms,  and  offer  the  holy 
Sacrifice,  without  attempting  to  dogmatise  as  to  the 
condition  of  the  souls  for  whom  she  prayed.  We  see, 
nevertheless,  from  the  primitive  Liturgies  that  she 
desired  something  more  for  the  departed  than  a  joyful 
resurrection  and  merciful  judgment  at  the  last  day. 
She  prayed  for  them  that  even  now  they  might  obtain 
rest  and  peace,  that  they  might  be  released  from  cap- 
tivity and  attain  to  the  delights  of  Paradise.  With  but 
few  exceptions  the  Fathers  also  spoke  as  if  the  righteous 
were  already  with  Christ  in  Paradise.  Those  who  were 
shut  out  of  Paradise  she  commended  simply  to  the 
mercy  of  God.  She  did  not  profess  to  say  exactly 
in  what  way  her  prayers  were  effectual,  or  for  what 
souls  they  would  or  would  not  be  accepted.  All  these 
matters  were  known  to  God ;  her  duty  was  to  pray 
without  ceasing  and  to  leave  the  rest  to  the  Father 
of  spirits.  Into  His  hands  she  could  safely  commend 
her  children,  in  the  hope  that  they  might  at  once  be 
numbered  among  the  "  spirits  of  just  men  made  per- 
fect,"^ and  therefore  enter  into  their  Father's  home, 
and  live  with  Him  in  the  heavenly  kingdom. 

Not  only  at  the  approach  of  death  but  also  long  after 
the  soul  had  left  the  body  would  the  primitive  Church 
have  offered  to  God  some  such  prayer  as  that  contained 

^  Heb.  xii.  23. 


Pat7'istic  Teachutg  on  Future  Purification     247 

in  our  Offices  :  1  "  O  Almighty  God,  with  Whom  do  Hve 
the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  after  they  are 
deHvered  from  their  earthly  prisons ;  we  humbly  com- 
mend the  soul  of  this  Thy  servant  our  dear  brother, 
into  Thy  hands,  as  into  the  hands  of  a  faithful  Creator, 
and  most  merciful  Saviour  ;  most  humbly  beseeching 
Thee  that  it  may  be  precious  in  Thy  sight.  Wash 
it,  we  pray  Thee,  in  the  Blood  of  that  Immaculate 
Lamb,  that  was  slain  to  take  away  the  sins  of  the 
world:  that  whatsoever  defilements  it  may  have  con- 
tracted in  the  midst  of  this  miserable  and  naughty 
world,  through  the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  or  the  wiles  of 
Satan,  being  purged  and  done  away,  it  may  be  pre- 
sented pure  and  without  spot  before  Thee." 

Here  we  have  something  near  akin  to  the  Patristic 
doctrine  of  Purgatory,  if  by  Purgatory  we  understand 
the  process — whatever  it  may  be — by  which  the  soul 
is  washed  in  the  Precious  Blood  for  the  pardon  of  its 
sins,  and  its  defilements  are  "purged  and  done  away," 
so  that  it  may  be  admitted  to  the  society  of  the  spirits 
of  just  men  made  perfect  who  are  with  God  and  enjoy 
the  Beatific  Vision. 

^  See  "A  Commendatory  Prayer"  in  the  Office  for  the  Visitation  of  the 
Sick  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer.  What  I  have  ventured  to  call  the 
Patristic  doctrine  of  Purgatory  is  simply  this,  that  God  would  hereafter — 
i.e.  at  the  moment  of  death  or  afterwards — do  for  the  soul  what  He  is 
asked  to  do  in  this  prayer,  leaving  the  time  and  means  employed  entirely 
to  His  mercy  and  wisdom. 


XIII. 


ZTeacbing  of  tbe  flDebi^val  anb  ©reek 

Cburcb 


"The  Holy  Eastern  Church  is  now,  as  she  was  from  the  begin- 
ning, multiplex  in  her  arrangements,  simple  in  her  faith,  difficult  of 
comprehension  to  strangers,  easily  intelligible  to  her  sons,  widely 
scattered  in  her  branches,  hardly  beset  by  her  enemies,  yet  still 
and  evermore,  what  she  delights  to  call  herself.  One,  Only,  Holy, 
Catholic  and  Apostolic. 

"  Such  she  is  :  and  yet  being  so,  she  has  not  escaped,  any  more 
than  her  great  Head,  the  tongue  of  calumny.  Protestant  contro- 
versialists attack  her  because  she  holds  uncorrupted  the  Faith  of 
St.  Athanasius  and  St.  Chrysostom  :  Roman  theologians  condemn 
her  as  a  withered  and  sapless  branch,  cut  off  from  the  communion 
of  the  first  See,  and  now  ready  for  the  fire.  .  .  . " — Dr.  Neale. 


XIII. 

Ucacbim  ot  tbe  /iDebt^val  anb  6teeU  Cbiircb 

IN  the  last  chapter  we  noticed  the  various  floating 
opinions  found  in  the  writings  of  the  early  F'athers 
as  to  the  future  state  of  the  soul.  St.  Augustine  had 
said  that  there  might  possibly  be  some  purifying  suffer- 
ing in  the  life  after  death ;  he  could  not  say  more  than 
that  this  was  a  "  matter  that  may  be  inquired  into  and 
either  ascertained  or  left  doubtful,  whether  some  be- 
lievers shall  pass  through  a  kind  of  purgatorial  fire,  and 
in  proportion  as  they  have  loved  with  more  or  less 
devotion  the  goods  that  perish,  be  more  or  less  quickly 
delivered  from  it." 

What  St.  Augustine  left  thus  an  open  question  in  the 
fifth  century  was  practically  settled  for  the  Western 
Church  by  St.  Gregory  the  Great  in  the  seventh.  St. 
Gregory  states  plainly  that  "  there  is  a  purgatorial  fire 
before  the  judgment."  In  this  sentence  we  have  the 
beginning  of  a  point  of  difference  between  the  Church 
in  the  West  and  the  Eastern  Church,  a  point  that  later 
on  was  to  cause  serious  trouble  and  dissension.  There 
was  no  dispute  that,  both  in  Holy  Scripture  and  the 

251 


252  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

Fathers,  fire  was  spoken  of  as  one  of  the  future  means 
of  purification  and  punishment,  but  the  Eastern  Church 
maintained  that  this  must  be  understood  as  a  figure  of 
speech  as  far  as  the  time  between  death  and  the  resur- 
rection of  the  body  was  concerned,  since  the  immaterial 
soul  could  not  suffer  from  material  fire.  The  Western 
theologians  would  not  agree  to  this,  and  insisted  with 
St.  Gregory  that  there  is  a  purgatorial  fire  before  the 
judgment.  They  either  thought  that  the  soul  could  be 
touched  by  material  fire,  or  more  probably  that  fire  was 
not  material. 

There  was,  however,  no  discussion  as  to  where  this 
fire  was  situated,  or  where  the  imperfect  souls  were 
detained.  When  the  question  was  raised  both  East 
and  West  came  to  the  same  conclusion.  .There  were 
but  two  main  and  distinct  abodes  of  the  dead,  and  as 
nothing  imperfect  could  enter  Heaven  it  followed  that 
the  imperfect  souls  must  be  in  Hades.  As,  moreover, 
the  thought  of  suffering  had  never  been  associated 
with  the  place  in  which  the  holy  dead  had  before  the 
Passion  awaited  their  redemption,  it  was  clear  that  if 
the  souls  of  the  imperfect  were  in  a  state  of  suffering — 
and  both  the  East  and  West  were  agreed  that  such  was 
the  case — they  could  not  be  in  that  place  which  had 
been  left  empty  when  our  Lord  arose  from  the  dead  and 
took  with  Him  all  who  had  there  awaited  His  coming. 
Hence  both  the  East  and  West  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  souls  of  the  imperfect  were  sent  to  the  penal 
part  of  Hades  and  were  in  the  same  place  as  the  repro- 


MedicBval  and  Greek  Church  Teaching     253 

bate,  or  quite  near  them.  Here  the  Latins  taught 
that  they  were  purified,  and  from  this  abode  they  were 
sooner  or  later  set  free  and  admitted  into  Paradise. 

This  was  not  a  new  doctrine ;  it  had  been  held,  like 
many  another  opinion,  by  some  of  the  Fathers,  or  at 
least  it  had  been  implied  in  their  teaching.  Origen  had 
received  some  such  belief  from  Clement,  and  indeed  had 
spoken  as  if  there  were  no  everlasting  punishment  for 
any,  but  only  a  temporary  purgation  in  Hades.  What 
Origen  had  whispered  St.  Gregory  of  Nyssa  had  pro- 
claimed as  from  the  housetop.^  Thus  the  idea  of  some 
souls  being  only  temporarily  punished  in  Hades  was 
quite  a  familiar  one,  though  occasionally  associated  with 
a  denial  of  any  eternal  punishment. 

At  the  time  of  the  final  separation  of  the  East  from 
the  West  in  the  eleventh  century,  the  whole  Church  was 
agreed  upon  the  following  points  as  to  the  life  of  the 
disembodied  soul :  first,  that  the  perfectly  righteous  were 
at  once  admitted  to  the  joy  of  their  Lord  ;  next,  that 
all  the  imperfect  souls  were  sent  to  Hades,  whence 
those  who  were  capable  of  salvation  were  delivered 
when  the  work  of  their  perfecting  was  accomplished  ; 
and  lastly,  that  the  perfecting  of  the  souls  of  the  dead 
in  Hades  depended  to  a  great  extent,  if  not  altogether, 
upon  the  prayers,  alms  and  sacrifices  of  the  Church 
on  earth. 

Both  the  Eastern  and  Western   theologians  taught 

^  It  is  not  certain,  however,  that  the  passages  referred  to  are  not  inter- 
polations made  by  Origenists. 


2  54  ^-^^  Soul  in  the  Uftseen  Wo7dd 

that  the  souls  in  Hades  endured  great  suffering.  The 
Greeks,  however,  as  we  have  said,  denied  that  the  soul, 
apart  from  the  body,  was  punished  by  fire.  From  this 
doctrine  the  Greeks  have  never  departed.  Thus  by  the 
time  of  the  great  schism  the  dogmatic  teaching  of  the 
Greeks  had  taken  what  we  may  call  its  final  form,  but 
the  old  Liturgies  remained  unaltered.  Hence  the  dis- 
crepancy that  at  first  sight  is  so  perplexing  between 
the  tone  of  the  prayers  for  the  departed  in  the  primitive 
Liturgies  and  the  dogmatic  belief  of  the  Orthodox 
Eastern  Church.  It  was  not,  however,  the  Eastern 
Church  only,  but  the  whole  Church,  that  held  the  belief 
that  the  imperfect  were  detained  in  the  same  place 
as  the  reprobate,  and  as  the  Roman  Liturgy  represents 
a  later  age  than  the  Greek  Liturgies  it  is  in  the  Latin 
Missals  and  mediaeval  collects  that  we  have  a  record  of 
this  belief  preserved.  Thus  in  the  Greek  Liturgies  is 
preserved  the  language  and  undefined  beliefs  of  the 
primitive  Church  ;  these  Liturgies  have  not  been  altered 
to  bring  them  into  accord  with  the  later  dogmatic 
developments,  and  consequently  the  Liturgies  alone 
cannot  be  appealed  to  as  settling  the  present  dogmatic 
faith  of  the  Orthodox  Church. 

In  the  same  way,  in  the  variable  portions  of  the  Latin 
Liturgy,  which  to  a  large  extent  are  of  mediaeval  origin, 
we  have  prayers  that  teach  what  is  no  longer  the 
dogmatic  belief  of  the  West,  but  the  doctrine  she 
once  held,  and  which  is  still  retained  by  the  more  con- 
servative East.     The  Greek   Liturgies  do  not  express 


MedicEval  and  Greek  Church  Teaching     255 

the  full  teaching  of  the  present  Eastern  Church,  but 
the  more  vague  aspirations  of  primitive  Christianity ; 
the  Latin  Missals  likewise  do  not  teach  the  full  current 
belief  of  the  Roman  Church  as  to  Purgatory,  but  the 
mediaeval  belief 

In  order  to  offer  some  proof  that  this  is  the  case 
it  will  be  well  to  turn  to  the  Roman  Liturgy  to  show 
that  the  mediaeval  Latin  Church  once  taught  the 
doctrine  that  is  taught  at  this  day  by  the  Greeks 
alone.  A  few  quotations  may  then  be  made  from 
standard  theologians  of  the  modern  Orthodox  Church 
to  prove  that  the  Greeks  do  retain  the  older  belief 
abandoned  by  the  West.  It  will  then  be  interesting 
to  note  that  the  dogmatic  decree  of  Trent  to  some 
extent  was  a  rejection  of  the  mediaeval  and  Greek 
doctrine  and  a  return  to  the  more  reasonable  atmosphere 
of  the  early  Church,  in  leaving  everything  an  open 
question  except  the  mere  existence  of  a  state  of 
purification  hereafter.  We  shall  also  note  how  the 
wise  reserve  of  Trent  has  been  made  of  no  effect  by 
the  unbridled  imagination  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
theologians  who  have  continued  to  teach  and  even  to 
elaborate  still  more  what  was  well  named  the  "  Romish 
doctrine  concerning  Purgatory" — a  doctrine  disowned 
by  the  Council  of  Trent. 

There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  earliest 
Liturgy  used  by  the  Roman  Church  was  in  Greek 
and  of  an  Oriental  character.  The  Canon  of  the 
present  Roman  Mass  dates,  it  is  commonly  supposed, 


256      *    The  Sold  in  the  Unseen    World 

from  the  time  of  St.  Leo.  St.  Gregory  the  Great  is 
known  to  have  made  some  changes  in  the  Mass,  but 
the  Ordinary  and  Canon  have,  as  Hammond  says, 
"  remained  unaltered "  since  his  day.  This,  of  course, 
does  not  apply  to  the  variable  parts  of  the  Mass  which 
have  been  added  at  different  times.  Now,  if  we  com- 
pare the  ancient  commemoration  of  the  departed  in 
that  part  of  the  Mass  that  dates  from  the  age  of  St.  Leo 
{i.e.  the  Canon)  with  the  later  special  prayers  of  the 
Requiem  Masses,  we  find  a  striking  change  of  tone. 
The  commemoration  in  the  Canon  is  worded  after 
the  primitive  pattern  of  the  Greek  Liturgies.  The 
priest  is  directed  to  say :  "  Be  mindful,  O  Lord,  of  Thy 
servants  and  handmaids  N.  and  N.,  who  are  gone 
before  us  with  the  sign  of  faith,  and  slumber  in  the 
sleep  of  peace.  To  these,  O  Lord,  and  to  all  that 
rest  in  Christ  grant,  we  beseech  Thee,  a  place  of 
refreshment  {locum  refrigerii  ^ ),  light,  and  peace. 
Through  the  same  Christ  our  Lord."  Here  we  have 
the  language  of  the  Church  in  her  pristine  purity. 
But  turn  to  the  Mass  for  the  Dead,  and  we  come 
face  to  face  with  the  belief  of  the  mediaeval  Church 
and  that  now  taught  by  the  Greeks.  In  the  Offer- 
toriuni  of  this  Mass  the  priest  says :  "  O  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  King  of  glory,  deliver  the  souls  of  all  the 
faithful    departed    from    the    pains    of  hell    {de  poenis 

^  The  equivalent  of  this  word  {refrigerhini)  is  not  to  be  found,  I  think, 
in  the  primitive  Liturgies,  but  it  is  the  word  used  by  TertuUian  in  a 
passage  where  he  speaks  of  a  widow  praying  for  her  husband's  soul. — 
De  Monogamiay  c.  x. 


Mediceval  and  Greek  Church   Teaching-     257 

inferni^)  and  from  the  deep  lake;  deliver  them  from 
the  mouth  of  the  lion,  that  hell  swallow  them  not 
up  {lie  absorbcat  eas  Tartarus),  that  they  fall  not  into 
darkness  ;  but  may  the  holy  standard-bearer  Michael 
lead  them  to  the  holy  light,  which  Thou  didst  promise 
to  Abraham  and  to  his  seed.  We  offer  to  Thee,  O 
Lord,  sacrifices  and  prayers :  do  Thou  receive  them 
on  behalf  of  those  souls  of  whom  we  make  memorial 
this  day:  grant  them,  O  Lord,  to  pass  from  death  to 
life :  which  Thou  didst  promise  of  old  to  Abraham 
and  his  seed." 

This  prayer  would  exactly  express  the  hope  prevalent 
among  many  of  the  Jews  of  old,  or  that  of  some  of  the 
early  Fathers,  but  it  is  inconsistent  with  the  present 
Roman  teaching  as  to  Purgatory.  According  to  all 
Roman  theologians  the  Church  does  not  intend  to  pray 

^  In  mediaeval  theology  Infernus  is  the  name  given  to  the  place  of  the 
reprobate  in  Hades,  and  not  merely  to  the  whole  nether  world.  St. 
Thomas  Aquinas  writes  :  "  We  do  not  pray  for  those  in  Paradise,  because 
they  have  no  need  of  prayers  ;  nor  for  those  in  hell  {in  inferno),  because 
they  cannot  be  loosed  from  sin." — Summa^  App.,  q.  i.  art.  i.  The  above 
Offertorium  is  often  referred  to  by  the  great  post- Reformation  Anglican 
Divines.  (See  Abp.  Ussher's  Answer  to  a  Challenge  made  by  a  Jesuit 
in  Ireland ;  Abp.  Bramhall's  works;  also  Bp.  Jeremy  Taylor's  works.) 
The  learned  Spanish  Doctor  Johannes  Medina  confessed:  "Although 
I  have  read  many  prayers  for  the  faithful  dead  in  the  Roman  Missal,  yet 
in  none  of  them  have  I  read  that  the  Church  doth  petition  that  they  may 
be  more  quickly  freed  from  pains ;  but  I  have  read  in  some  of  them  a 
petition  that  they  may  be  freed  from  eternal  pains."  Medina  excuses 
these  petitions  and  others  on  the  ground  that  though  * '  not  altogether  true 
or  apt "  {quamvis  non  omnino  vera  sint  vel  omnino  apta)  they  are  to  be 
tolerated,  "seeing  such  prayers  were  made  by  private  persons,  not  by 
councils,  neither  were  approved  by  councils," — ^Jo.  Medina,  In  Codice 
de  oratiotie,  qncest.  6. 

S  ' 


258  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World. 

for  any  but  ^^  faithful  departed^ — that  is  to  say,  those 
who  have  died  in  the  grace  of  God,  and  are  con- 
sequently certain  of  their  eternal  salvation,  and 
absolutely  out  of  danger  of  falling  into  Tartarus,  the 
prison-house  of  the  damned.  The  Jews  and  Greeks 
might  use  the  prayer  as  it  stands,  for  the  Jews  were 
— and  the  Greeks  still  are — accustomed  to  think  of 
some  souls  as  falling  into  Gehenna  for  punishment 
and  correction,  who  nevertheless  are  not  destined  to 
be  swallowed  up  by  Tartarus,  but  to  escape  therefrom. 
The  Jesuit  theologian  Schouppe  tries  to  explain  away 
this  Offertory  on  the  ground  that  it  is  meant  as  a 
prayer  for  one  at  the  point  of  death,  or  but  just 
departed.  This  plea  is,  however,  not  satisfactory, 
since  the  Offertory  is  said  at  all  Masses  for  the 
departed,  and  is  thus  used  not  only  on  the  day  of 
departure,  but  on  anniversaries  long  years  after  death. 
It  would  be  better  to  acknowledge  that  this  Offertory 
is  a  survival  from  an  age  in  which  the  doctrine  of 
Purgatory  had  not  reached  its  present  form,  and  con- 
sequently that  the  Offertory  must  be  understood  as 
accommodated  by  the  intention  of  the  celebrant  to 
the  doctrine  now  prevalent  in  the  West. 

Archbishop  BramhalV  writing  of  this  Offertory,  says, 
"  Nor  can  this  petition  be  anyways  so  wrested  as  to 
become  applicable  to  the  hour  of  death.  This  prayer 
is   not   for   the   man,  but  for  the  soul  separated ;  not 

^  Archbishop  of  Armagh  and  Primate  of  all  Ireland,  1660.    See  Answer 
to  M.  de  la  Milletiere,  in  Bramhall's  Works^  vol.  i.  p.  59. 


Mediceval  and  Greek  Church   Teaching     259 

for  the  soul  of  a  sick  man,  or  a  dying  man,  but  for 
the  souls'  of  men  actually  deceased.  Certainly  this 
prayer  must  have  referred  to  the  sleeping  of  souls, 
or  to  the  pains  of  Hell  ;  to  deliverance  out  of  Purgatory^ 
it  can  have  no  relation.  Nor  are  you  able  [he  is  writing 
to  a  Roman  Catholic  controversialist]  to  produce  any 
one  prayer,  public  or  private,  neither  any  one  indulgence 
to  that  purpose,  for  the  delivery  of  any  one  soul  out 
of  Purgatory,  in  all  the  Primitive  times,  or  out  of  your 
own  ancient  Missals  or  records." 

-  But  this  is  by  no  means  the  only  prayer  in  the  Missal 
and  Office  Books  of  the  Latin  Church  that  bears  witness 
to  the  earlier  beliefs,  and  is  consequently  in  some 
measure  inconsistent  with  the  doctrine  of  Purgatory 
as  a  distinct  place  into  which  only  those  can  enter 
whose  sins  have  been  already  pardoned  before  death, 
and  who  are  therefore  conscious  of  their  eternal 
salvation.  That  magnificent  hymn — the  Dies  Irce — 
which  is  said  or  sung  as  a  sequence  at  certain  Masses 
for  the  dead,  puts  into  the  mouth  of  those  who  at  the 
last  day  are  called  to  the  judgment  -  seat  of  Christ 
words  and  prayers  which  imply  that  the  dead  are 
uncertain  as  to  their  salvation.  No  doubt  the  whole 
Sequence  is  highly  dramatic,  but  it  expresses  a  belief 
that  would  certainly  not  have  been  held  by  one  who 
taught  the  modern  doctrine  of  Purgatory,  since  a 
part  of  that  doctrine  is  that  the  righteous  dead — for 
whom  alone  these  Masses  are  offered — are  perfectly 
aware  of  their  final  salvation.      The   Dies  Irce  seems 


26o  The  Soul  iii  the  Unseen  World 

to  teach  that  the  dead  are  raised  after  a  long  sleep 
and  suddenly  called  to  judgment.  They  know  not 
what  to  expect  and,  conscious  of  their  sinfulness,  appeaL 
in  helpless  eagerness  to  the  infinite  mercy  of  their 
Redeemer.  The  Church — looking  forward  to  this  judg- 
ment— prays  that  when  that  awful  day  at  last  dawns, 
the  dead  may  meet  with  pardon  and  acceptance. 

The  hymn  appeals  powerfully  to  some  of  the  deepest 
Christian  instincts,  but  from  a  doctrinal  point  of  view 
it  represents  the  undefined  longings  of  the  early  Church 
rather  than  the  precise  definitions  of  Roman  dogmatic 
theology. 

If  we  turn  to  the  collects  of  the  Missal  and  the 
Office  of  the  Dead  in  the  Breviary,  we  find  many  ex- 
pressions that  do  not  well  accord  with  the  universal 
teaching  of  Roman  Catholic  theologians  of  the  last 
three  hundred  years.  The  collects  pray  for  the 
remission  of  the  sins  of  the  departed,  and  for  their 
escape  from  the  gates  and  pains  of  Hell.  By  "  Hell " 
is  evidently  meant,  not  Hades  generally,  but  the  place 
of  the  reprobate  in  Hades.  Now,  the  only  sins  for 
which  a  soul  is  condemned  to  Hell  —  according  to 
modern  Roman  theology — are  mortal  sins,  and  these 
are  not  supposed  to  be  pardonable  after  death.  It 
would  seem,  therefore,  that  prayers  for  the  escape 
of  a  soul  from  the  gates  of  Hell  and  the  pains  of 
Hell  {inferni)  must  be  intended  to  help  a  soul  that 
is  in  danger  of  Hell,  but  the  Roman  theologians  deny 
that  they  intend  to  pray  for  any  who  do  not  depart 


Mediceval  and  Greek  Church  Teaching     261 

this  life  in  a  state  of  salvation  ;  hence  the  petitions 
referred  to  must  be  explained  away  or  accommodated 
if  they  are  applied  to  the  souls  in  Purgatory.^  There 
is,  however,  always  room  for  difference  of  interpretation 
in  the  wording  of  such  prayers,  and  it  is  to  the  dogmatic 
teaching  of  a  Church  that  we  must  turn  to  clear  up 
what  is  vague  in  its  devotional  language.  In  order, 
therefore,  to  prove  that  the  Latin  Church  at  one  time 
taught  the  same  doctrine  as  the  Eastern  Church — that 
all  the  imperfect  souls  are  sent  for  a  time  to  Infernus 
— we  have  only  to  turn  to  the  teaching  of  the  greatest 
theologian  of  the  mediaeval  Latin  Church,  whose 
authority  is,  even  to  this  day,  supreme  in  the  Church 
of  Rome — St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  "the  Angelic  Doctor." 
Pope  Leo  XIIL,  writing  of  St.  Thomas,  says  that 
he  "towers  above  all  other  scholastic  Doctors  as  their 
master  and  prince."  St.  Thomas  lived  at  a  time  when 
the  Western  Church  was  much  concerned  with  the 
subject  of  reunion  with  the  Greeks.  He  died  on  his 
way  to  attend  the  Council  of  Lyons  (1274),  and  this 
Council  was  occupied  with  the  subject  of  the  reunion 
of  the  East  with  the  Church  of  the  West.  It  is  quite 
clear  that  at  the  time  he  wrote  his  book  on  the 
Sentences  St.  Thomas  hesitated  as  to  the  belief  that 
the  reprobate  and  imperfect  were  alike  in  Hell,  and 
inclined  to  accept  the  opinion  that  had  been  gaining 
ground  in  the  West,  that  Purgatory  and  the  Hell 
of  the  reprobate  are  distinct  from  one  another. 

^  See  note,  p.  257  (Medina). 


262  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

Thus  we  find  in  his  Commentary  on  the  Sentences} 
written  about  the  year  1256,  that  St.  Thomas,  in  dis- 
cussing the  question  "whether  the  souls  (of  the  im- 
perfect) are  purified  in  the  same  place  in  which  the 
damned  are  punished/'  argues  that  Purgatory  and  the 
Hell  of  the  lost  are  one  and  the  same  place.  He  quotes 
;the  words  of  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  "that  as  in  the 
same  fire  gold  is  clarified  and  straw  burned,  so  in  one 
and  the  same  flame  sinners  are  consumed  and  the  elect 
cleansed."  St.  Thomas  adds :  "  Therefore  as  the  fire 
of  Purgatory  and  Infernus  (Hell)  is  one  and  the  same, 
so  they  (Purgatory  and  Hell)  are  the  same  place."  ^ 
Shortly  after  he  writes  less  confidently.  Pie  says : 
"  As  to  the  place  of  Purgatory  we  have  no  express 
teaching  in  Scripture,  and  therefore  we  cannot  be 
positive.  Probably  Purgatory  is  a  place  beneath,  joined 
to  Hell  (^Infernus)  in  such  a  manner  that  it  is  the  same 
fire  which  torments  the  damned  in  Hell  and  purifies 
the  just  in  Purgatory."  St.  Thomas  concludes,  there- 
fore, in  this  early  work  of  his  "  that  Purgatory  is  either 
in  the  same  place  as  Hell  or  close  to  it " ;  he  is  not 
able  to  decide  which.  It  may  be  well  here  to  emphasise 
a  fact  which  is  often  forgotten,  namely,  that  the  assertion 
that  there  is  a  place  or  state  of  purgation,  i,e,  a  Pur- 

•^  A  Commentary  on  Peter  Lombard's  Book  of  Sentences.  St.  Thomas 
died  before  he  had  completed  the  Suj?inia.  To  supply  in  a  measure  what 
he  had  left  unfinished  it  is  usual  to  add  a  Supplement  to  the  Siinwia,  taken 
from  the  Comi?ientary  on  the  Sente?ices,  written  by  St.  Thonas  at  an  earlier 
date.  Some  portion  of  this  supplement  was  omitted  by  the  compositor  of 
the  Suinma  and  is  now  given  as  an  "Appendix," 

^  Stimnia,  App.,  q.  i.  Art.  ii. 


Mediceval  and  Greek  Church   Teaching     263 

gatory,  hereafter  settles  nothing  concerning  this  place 
as  to  where  it  is ;  hence,  although  St.  Thomas  is  quite 
clear  of  course  that  "  There  is  a  purgation  after  this 
life  "  \purgatio  restat  post  hanc  vitam)}  that  this  purga- 
tion is  extremely  painful  {pcena  Purgatorii  minima 
excedit  maximum  poenam  hujus  vitce)^  and  that  the 
instrument  of  punishment  is  fire  {animce  .  .  .  ab  igne 
corporali  punientuf)f  yet  he  is  not  sure  if  all  this  takes 
place  in  the  Hell  of  the  damned  or  in  a  place  apart. 
In  this  uncertainty  we  mark  the  transition  from  the 
general  belief;  that  had  for  some  time  prevailed,  that 
the  imperfect  were  undoubtedly  in  Hell,  though  only 
for  a  time.  With  this  in  our  mind  we  can  quite  under- 
stand the  Offertorium  already  quoted  :  it  is  a  prayer 
that  Hell  may  not  retain  or  swallow  up  the  souls, 
but  that  they  may  escape  from  Tartarus  and  be  placed 
with  the  perfected  souls  in  the  Bosom  of  Abraham.^ 

By  the  time  of  the  Council  of  Florence  (which  was 
summoned  to  effect  the  reunion  of  the  Eastern  and 
Western  Churches)  in  1439,  ^^e  Latins  had  come  to 
the  belief  that  Hell  and  Purgatory  are  not  identical, 
and  thus  they  differed  from  the  Greeks  on  two  points, 
namely,  that  Purgatory  is  a  place  distinct  from  Hell,  and 
that  the  souls  are  punished  therein  by  corporeal  fire. 

The   fact   that   eventually   the   Greeks    rejected    the 

^  Summa,  App.,  q.  i.  Art.  i. 

2  Ibid.^  q.  ii.  Art.  i.  ^  Ibid.^  Suppl.  q.  Ixx.  Art.  iii. 

^  St.  Thomas  writes  as  to  suffrages  for  the  dead  that  the  words  in 
inferno  nulla  est  redemptio  mean  there  is  no  redemption  from  the  hell 
of  the  damned  for  those  who  are  finally  {i.e.  not  temporarily)  condemned 
to  its  sufferings. — Szctnrna,  Suppl.  Ixxi.  Art.  vi. 


264  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

decisions  of  the  Council  of  Florence  is  often  used  as 
an  argument  that  the  Eastern  Church  teaches  a  doc- 
trine as  to  the  intermediate  state  entirely  unlike  that 
of  the  Latin  Church.  It  will  be  well,  therefore,  to 
notice  what  the  Greeks  and  Latins  held  in  common 
at  the  Council  of  Florence. 

We  read  in  the  history  of  the  Council  written  by 
Sylvester  Sguropulus,  of  which  a  Latin  version  was 
published  in  the  year  1560  by  Robert  Creyghton,  Dean 
of  Wells,  that  Mark,  Archbishop  of  Ephesus,  defended 
the  Greek  Church  at  the  Council  and  began  by  asking 
in  a  not  too  conciliatory  tone  whence  the  Latin  Church 
derived  her  tradition  as  to  Purgatory.  Cardinal  Julian 
answered  to  so  good  effect,  and  produced  so  many 
witnesses  from  the  Fathers,  that  Mark  was  forced  to 
exclaim,  "  This  shows  how  the  mountain  of  controversy 
becomes  a  molehill  when  men  meet  for  mutual  explana- 
tion. We  had  heard  that  the  teaching  of  your  Church 
was  different  from  what  we  are  now  told.  As  you  have 
explained  it  I  find  but  a  small  difference  between  us 
on  this  point,  and  I  hope,  if  God  so  wills,  it  may  soon 
be  set  straight." 

Now,  we  naturally  ask,  What  was  the  doctrine  the 
Latin  Church  put  forward  with  which  the  East  was 
in  almost  complete  agreement?  It  was  this  :  The  souls 
of  the  saints  ascend  at  death  straight  to  Heaven  and 
enter  into  eternal  rest.  Those  who  have  sinned  and 
have  not  yet  completed  their  penance,  or  brought  forth 
sufficiently  the   fruits    of  penance,   are   cleansed    in   a 


'1*1. 


Mediceval  and  Greek  Chttrcti   Teaching     265 

purgatorial  fire  {subeunt  flainmarmn  infemaliuin  expur- 
gationeni),  and  freed  from  it  sooner  or  later  as  they 
deserve.  When  freed  they  at  once  join  the  blessed 
in  Heaven.  The  reprobate  are  immediately  cast  into 
the  Hell  of  the  damned. 

The  result  of  the  debate  which  followed  this  state- 
ment of  Western  doctrine  was  that  the  Latins  did  not 
define  the  points  of  difference,  and  left  it  an  open 
question  whether  there  is  a  special  place  of  purgation  and 
a  purgatorial  fire  apart  from  the  infernus  of  the  damned. 
All  that  the  Council  decided  was  that  "  Those  who  have 
died  truly  penitent  and  in  the  love  of  God,  but  before 
they  have  made  satisfaction  for  sins  of  omission  and 
commission  by  worthy  fruits  of  penitence,  are  purified 
{piirgari)  after  death  by  purgatorial  pains  {jpcenis  purga- 
toriis) ;  to  the  relief  of  these  pains  avail  the  suffrages  of 
the  faithful,  i.e.  the  sacrifices  {sacrificid)  of  masses,  sup- 
plications and  alms,  and  other  pious  works,  which  the 
faithful  are  wont  to  do  the  one  for  the  other,  according 
to  the  custom  of  the  Church.  The  souls  of  those  who 
die  after  baptism  and  are  altogether  without  sin,  and 
those  who  after  they  have  been  stained  with  sin  have 
been  cleansed  either  before  or  after  death,  are  then  at 
once  received  into  Heaven  and  have  the  clear  vision  of 
the  Triune  God,  as  He  is,  but  one  more  perfectly  than 
another  according  to  their  merit ;  while  the  souls  of 
others  who  depart  in  mortal  sin,  or  even  in  original  sin, 
descend  to  infermis  to  be  punished  in  different  degrees." 

Now,   it   is   quite   true   that   the   Greeks   eventually 


266  The  Sotil  in  the  Unseen  World 

rejected  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Florence,  but  it 
does  not  at  all  follow  that  their  own  belief  was  nearer 
the  truth  than  that  of  the  Council,  or,  still  less,  that  they 
approached  what  may  be  called  the  Protestant  opinions 
of  later  times.  Mark  (the  Archbishop  of  Ephesus) 
indeed,  after  the  Council  was  over,  exaggerated  the 
points  of  difference,  but  he  did  so  more  because  of 
personal  irritation  than  because  the  molehills  had  really 
been  transformed  into  mountains.  This  is  witnessed 
to  by  the  fact  that  Gregory,  the  Grand  Penitentiary  of 
Constantinople,  maintained  that  the  Latin  doctrine  was 
laudable  and  good.  We  must  remember  that  the 
Greeks  had  no  defined  doctrine  of  their  own,  but  held, 
as  the  Fathers  had  done,  many  different  opinions  as  to 
the  future  state.  Thus  Mark,  when  he  protested  against 
the  Council,  adopted  a  doctrine  quite  at  variance  with 
that  which  he  had  but  a  while  before  said  was  almost 
the  same  as  that  ^  of  his  own  Church,  and  which  the 
Greek  Grand  Penitentiary  afterwards  declared  to  be 
laudable.  Now,  this  diversity  still  remains  among  the 
Greeks.  There  are  those  among  them  who  appear  to 
hold  the  doctrine  which  Mark  finally  adopted,  and  there 
are  others — and  these  by  far  the  more  authoritative — 
who  hold  a  doctrine  of  the  intermediate  state  very 
similar  to  that  of  the  Latin  Church. 

In  order  to  state  the  case  quite  fairly  we  will  quote 
the  opinion  finally  adopted  by  Mark  of  Ephesus  when 
he  desired  to  widen  the  differences  between  the  East 
and  West.     He  wrote  against  those  of  his  countrymen 


MedicBval  and  Greek  Chtu'ch   Teaching     267 

who  yielded  to  the  definition  of  the  Florentine  Council : 
"  We  say,  that  neither  the  saints  do  receive  the  kingdom 
prepared  for  them,  and  those  secret  good  things,  neither 
the  sinners  do  as  yet  fall  into  Hell :  but  that  either  of 
them  do  remain  in  expectation  of  their  proper  lot ;  and 
that  this  appertaineth  unto  the  time  that  is  to  come  after 
the  resurrection  and  judgment.  But  these  men,  with  the 
Latins,  would  have  these  to  receive  presently  after  death 
the  things  they  have  deserved  :  but  unto  those  of  the 
middle  sort — that  is,  to  such  as 'die  in  penance — they 
assign  a  purgatory  fire,  which  they  feign  to  be  distinct 
from  that  of  Hell,  that  thereby,  say  they,  being  purged 
in  their  souls  after  death,  they  likewise  may  be  received 
into  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  together  with  the  righteous." 
We  note  that  the  Council  did  not  define,  as  Mark 
implies,  that  there  was  a  purgatory  jfire.  That  was  pur- 
posely not  defined  in  order  to  meet  the  wishes  of  the 
Greeks.  We  notice  also  how  the  Latins  are  said  to 
have  now  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  purgatorial 
fire  is  distinct  from  that  of  Hell — a  conclusion  towards 
which  we  have  seen  St.  Thomas  was  inclined,  but  one 
that  was  not  in  his  day  decided.  Why  did  Mark  draw 
attention  to  this?  In  all  probability  because  among 
those  Greeks  who  accepted  the  decrees  of  Florence 
there  were  some  who  were  still  inclined  to  resent  this 
teaching  of  the  Latins.  They  had  accepted  the  decisions 
of  Florence,  but  the  Council  had  said  nothing  as  to 
whether  the  Purgatory  pains  were  endured  (as  the 
Greeks  believed)   in    Hell,  or  in  a  place  apart.      The 


268  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

Latin  theologians,  however,  were  going  beyond  the 
Council  and  asserting  that  Purgatory  was  a  place  distinct 
from  Hell.  Mark  made  use  of  this  difference  of  teach- 
ing to  create  discord  between  the  Latins  and  Greeks. 
We  know  that  he  was  successful,  and  that  to  this  day 
those  Greeks  who  agree  with  the  Latins  that  the  im- 
perfect souls  suffer  hereafter  insist  with  vehemence  that 
this  suffering  is  not  endured  in  Purgatory,  but  in  Hell. 
To  prove  that  such  is  the  present  belief  of  the  represen- 
tative theologians  of  the  Greek  Church,  we  will  conclude 
this  chapter  with  a  few  quotations  from  some  of  their 
more  modern  dogmatic  theologians  of  unquestionable 
authority. 

We  must  remember  that  until  the  seventeenth  century 
there  are  no  authoritative  expositions  of  the  doctrines  of 
the  Eastern  Church,  other  than  the  writings  of  St.  John 
Damascene.  Peter  Mogila,  one  of  the  greatest  authori- 
ties of  the  Russian  Church,  who  was  made  Metropolitan 
of  Kieff  in  1632,  to  stem  the  tide  of  Latin  teaching  in 
the  Church  of  Little  Russia  drew  up  an  exposition 
of  the  doctrine  of  the  Eastern  Churches.  The  Council 
of  Jassy  approved  his  work,  and  finally,  after  careful 
revision,  it  received  the  signature,  or  inipiHmatur^  as 
we  should  say,  of  the  four  Patriarchs.  It  also  received 
the  imprimatur  of  eight  other  Metropolitans,  or  Bishops, 
and  thirteen  Ecclesiastics  of  the  Great  Church.  This 
Orthodoxa  Confessio  by  Mogila  is  therefore  not  to  be 
gainsaid  or  put  aside  as  a  merely  unofficial  work.  It 
is  the  voice  of  the   East  raised  in  opposition  to  both 


Mediceval  and  Greek  Church   Teaching     269 

Romanism  and  Calvinism.  It  is  said  to  be  slightly 
tinged  with  Latinism,  but  as  it  was  composed  to  oppose 
Romanism  we  may  take  for  granted  that  the  Latinism 
was  adopted  from  a  conviction  of  its  truth.  Now,  what 
does  this  Orthodox  Confession  say  as  to  the  soul  in  the 
intermediate  state?  We  are  told  in  the  "Confession," 
which  is  in  the  form  of  question  and  answer,  that  there 
is  a  particular  judgment  at  the  moment  of  death — in 
the  sense  that  the  souls  then  know  how  they  stand 
in  the  sight  of  God — and  consequently  each  soul  at 
death  goes  to  its  own  place ;  that  there  are  different 
degrees  of  reward  for  the  righteous ;  ^  that,  although 
all  the  reprobate  will  be  eternally  punished,  yet  some 
will  suffer  more  than  others ;  ^  that,  although  there 
are  no  souls  in  a  middle  condition  ^  between  the  re- 
warded and  the  punished,  yet  "  it  is  certain  that  many 
sinners  are  freed  from  the  chains  of  Hades,  not  by 
their  own  repentance  or  confession  .  .  .  but  for  the 
good  works  and*  alms  of  the  living  and  for  the  prayers 
of  the  Church  made  in  their  behalf,  and  chiefly  for 
the  sake  of  the  Unbloody  Sacrifice  which  the  Church 
daily  offers  up  for  the  living  and  the  dead.  ...  It  is 
clear  that  after  the  separation  [of  the  soul  from  the 
body]  the  soul  can  no  more  perform  penance,  nor 
do  any  other  works  whereby  it  might  be  freed  from 
the  chains  of  Hades,  therefore  only  the  prayers,  the 
sacrifices  and  the  alms  which  are  done  by  the  living, 
on   their   behalf,  do   comfort   and    greatly  benefit   the 

^  Reply  62.  "^  .Reply  63.  ^  Reply  64. 


2/0  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

souls,  and  free  them  from  the  bonds  of  Hades.  We 
are  therefore  taught  by  the  Holy  Scripture  and  the 
exposition  of  this  Father  [Theophylact]  that  we  ought 
by  all  means  to  pray  for  the  departed,  to  offer  the 
Unbloody  Sacrifice  for  them,  and  to  dispense  our  alms 
with  a  liberal  hand,  seeing  they  can  no  more  perform 
these  good  works  for  themselves."  i 

A  caution  is  given  that  although  the  souls  of  the 
righteous  are  in  Heaven,  while  those  of  the  wicked 
are  in  Hell,  neither  shall  receive  their  final  reward 
until  the  last  day.  It  should  be  added  that  the 
Orthodox  Confession  denies  that  there  is  any  tem- 
porary purgatorial  fire,  or  that  the  souls  are  delivered 
from  the  pains  of  Hades  {i.e.  Hell)  by  other  means 
than  the  suffrages  of  the  Church.  It  is  for  this  reason, 
it  is  said,  that  the  Orthodox  Church  is  so  solicitous, 
in  her  prayers  for  the  departed. 

Turning  to  our  next  authority,  we  come  to  the  Articles 
of  the  Council  of  Bethlehem  (1672).  This  Council  was 
assembled  by  the  celebrated  Dositheus,  who  had  been 
raised  to  the  Patriarchal  Throne  of  Jerusalem  in  order 
to  stamp  out  the  Calvinist  heresy,  which  had  obtained  a 
strong  position  in  the  Greek  Church.  The  Council 
defined  the  doctrine  of  Transubstantiation  in  explicit 
terms,  as  well  as  many  other  doctrines  denied  by  the 
Calvinists,  and  concerning  the  state  of  the  departed  it 
decreed  :  "  We  believe  that  the  souls  of  the  dead  are  in 
bliss  or  torment  according  to  their  actions.     For,  on 

^  Reply  65. 


Mediceval  and  Greek  Church    Teaching     271 

being  separated  from  their  bodies,  they  pass  instantly 
either  into  joy  or  into  sorrow  and  woe.  Yet  they  receive 
not  perfect  bliss  nor  perfect  misery  till  after  the  general 
resurrection,  when  the  soul  shall  be  united  to  the  body 
in  which  it  lived,  either  in  virtue  or  vice.  Those  who, 
having  been  defiled  with  mortal  sins,  have  not  died  in 
despair,  but  have  repented  while  yet  alive,  yet  have  not 
brought  forth  any  fruit  of  repentance  .  .  .  (we  believe) 
that  the  souls  of  these,  and  such  as  these,  descend  to 
Hades,  and  there  suffer  the  penalty  of  the  sins  they 
have  committed  ;  but  that  they  have  a  consciousness  of 
their  (approaching)  deliverance,  and  that  they  are  de- 
livered by  the  Supreme  Goodness  through  the  prayers 
of  the  priests,  and  the  alms  which  their  relations  offer 
for  the  dead ;  to  which  end  the  unbloody  Sacrifice 
chiefly  avails,  which  each  offers  in  particular  for  his  own 
relations  who  have  fallen  asleep,  and  the  Catholic  and 
Apostolic  Church  offers  daily  for  all  in  common.  [It 
must,  however,  be  borne  in  mind  that  we  know  nothing 
of  the  time  of  this  deliverance.  For  we  know  and 
believe  that  such  as  these  will  be  delivered  from  their 
sufferings  before  the  general  resurrection  and  judgment; 
but  when,  we  know  not."]  ^ 

We  turn  from  these  official  and  weighty  confessions, 
that  carry  with  them  the  authority  of  Councils,  Synods 
and    other   representations   of  the   living  voice  of  the 

^  The  translation  in  the  Russ  differs  slightly  from  the  Greek.  The 
Russ  was  altered  to  eliminate  all  trace  of  Latinism,  but  the  Greek  repre- 
sents the  decision  of  the  Council.  The  words  in  brackets  are  omitted  in 
the  Russ.  See  Hardouin,  Concil,  torn  xi.  p.  i8o  seq.^  and  Dr.  J.  M. 
N bale's  Hist,  of  Eastern  Church  (gen.  int.),  vol.  ii.  and  Alexandria. 


2/2  The  Soul  m  the   Unseen   World 

Orthodox  Eastern  Church,  to  the  volumes  written  by 
Macarius,  Bishop  of  Vinnitza,  and  formerly  Rector  of 
the  Ecclesiastical  Academy  of  St.  Petersburg.  Here 
we  read :  "  According  to  the  teaching  of  the  Orthodox 
Church,  there  is  after  death  no  intermediate  class 
between  those  who  are  saved  and  go  to  Heaven  and 
those  who  are  condemned  and  go  to  Hades.  There  is 
no  intermediate  place  where  those  souls  are  which  only 
repent  before  death ;  all  such  souls  go  to  Hades,  from 
whence  they  can  only  be  delivered  by  prayer."  ^ 

Again,  "The  Orthodox  Church  teaches,  like  the 
Church  of  Rome,  {a)  that  the  souls  of  certain  of  the 
dead — to  wit,  of  those  who  die  in  faith  and  repentance, 
but  without  having  had  the  time  to  bring  forth  fruits 
worthy  of  repentance,  and  by  consequence  to  deserve 
of  God  a  complete  pardon  of  their  sins,  nor  to  purify 
themselves  therefrom — endure  torments  until  they  are 
judged  worthy  of  such  pardon  and  truly  purified ; 
{U)  that  in  such  an  estate  the  souls  of  the  dead  derive 
profit  from  prayers  said  in  their  favour  by  their  brethren 
in  Christ  who  are  still  alive,  from  their  works  of  charity, 
and  especially  from  the  oblation  of  the  unbloody 
Sacrifice."  ^ 

Again,  in  the  Confession  of  another  Orthodox  Greek    • 
we  read :  "  There  are  certain  persons  who  do  not  enjoy 
salvation     immediately    after     death,    but     receive    it 
potentially   and   by   way   of  hope — hope,    I    maintain, 

^  Vol.  ii.  p.  729       In  the  Confessio  Orthodoxa  (Quest.   68)  Hades  is 
distinctly  said  to  be  the  abode  of  the  damned  and  of  the  devils. 
^  Vol.  ii.  p.  726. 


MedicBval  and  Greek  Chtirch   Teaching     273 

both  firm  and  sure ;  persons  who,  having  been  tried 
by  the  paternal  discipHne  of  God,  are  held  worthy  of 
being  made  happy  in  very  reality  in  due  time."  1  Once 
more,  the  Eastern  bishops  in  their  correspondence 
with  the  Non-Jurors  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  denounce  the  Roman  doctrine  of  Purgatory, 
and  state  their  own  belief  in  the  following  words:  "As 
for  the  purgatorial  fire  invented  by  the  Papists  to 
command  the  purse  of  the  ignorant,  we  will  by  no 
means  hear  of  it.  For  it  is  a  fiction  and  a  doting 
fable  invented  for  lucre  and  to  deceive  the  simple, 
and,  in  a  word,  has  no  existence  but  in  the  imagina- 
tion. There  is  no  appearance  of  it  in  the  sacred 
Scriptures  or  holy  Fathers,  whatever  the  authors  or 
abettors  of  it  may  clamour  to  the  contrary.  But  we 
say  that  the  benefactions  and  holy  sacrifices,  the  alms 
and  prayers  of  the  Church  and  her  priests  for  the 
dead,  are  the  things  that  greatly  profit  them,  and  not 
the  purgatorial  fire  which  does  not  by  any  means 
anywhere  exist.  For  these  {ix.  the  prayers,  etc.) 
relieve  the  pains  which  the  souls  suffer  in  Hades,  as 
is  plain  from  the  Centurion  whose  son  the  Lord  healed 
at  the  Centurion's  petition,  and  from  the  paralytic  whom 
He  recovered  by  a  double  cure,  for  the  faith  of  those 
who  brought  him  to  Him,  and  might  be  proved  from 
a  thousand  other  instances  as  clear  as  the  sun." 

Again,    Macarius    writes :    "  Though    the    Orthodox 

^  Met.   Critopuli,    Conf,^  xx.,   where  he  says  the  pains  are  "per 
afflictionem  et  angustiam  conscientije." 
T 


2  74  ^'^^  Soul  in  the  Unseen   World 

Church  teaches  that  all  sinners,  immediately  after  death 
and  the  partial  judgment  upon  them,  go  into  Hades, 
the  place  of  grief  and  pain,  it  teaches  also  at  the  same 
time  that  to  some  sinners  who  repented  before  their 
departure  from  this  life,  without  having  previously  been 
able  to  bring  forth  fruits  worthy  of  repentance  (such  as 
prayer,  contrition  of  heart,  relief  of  the  poor,  and  mani- 
festation of  their  love  to  God  and  their  neighbour  by 
their  works),  there  still  remains  the  possibility  of  obtain- 
ing an  alleviation  of  pain,  and  even  full  release  from  the 
bonds  of  Hades."  ^ 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  statement,  and  from  the 
authoritative  documents  already  quoted,  that  the  Or- 
thodox Eastern  Church  teaches  that  all  sin -stained 
souls  {i.e.  the  imperfect  as  well  as  the  reprobate)  pass 
at  death  into  Hades,  "  the  place  of  grief  and  pain."  She 
denies  that  there  is  any  intermediate  place  in  Hades, 
reserved  for  the  perfecting  of  the  penitent.  From  this 
suffering  state  {jihv  Sewwvy  as  it  is  called  by  the  Synod 
of  Bethlehem)  the  penitent  are  delivered  by  the  prayers, 
etc.,  of  the  Church  on  earth.  They  pass  either  before  or 
at  the  resurrection  into  Heaven — Paradise — where  they 
are  with  Christ,  and  "see  God  face  to  face."^  At  the  resur- 
rection they  receive  their  spiritualised  bodies,  and  are 
thus  made  partakers  of  the  state  of  glory.  For  the  repro- 
bate there  is  no  deliverance  from  Hades.  At  the  resurrec- 
tion they  are  clothed  with  their  bodies  and  "cast  into  the 
lake  of  fire  " — the  state  of  misery — the  "  second  death." 

From  these  passages  it  is  plain  that  the  Greek  doctrine 
^  p.  704.  ^  See  App.  pp.  400-1. 


MedicEval  and  Greek  Church  Teaching     275 

is  as  far  removed  from  any  form  of  popular  Protestant 
belief  as  the  Roman,  and  has  no  affinity  with  the  novel 
teaching  of  a  section  of  the  High  Church  party  in  Eng- 
land which  makes  Paradise  into  a  kind  of  modified  Pur- 
gatory. Paradise  among  the  Greeks,  as  among  the  Latins 
and  Protestants,  is  (since  the  Ascension  of  our  Lord) 
believed  to  be  simply  one  of  the  names  for  Heaven. 

This  is  made  clear  in  several  official  documents. 
One  extract  from  The  Orthodox  Confession  will  suf- 
fice to  show  that  on  this  subject  there  is  no  dis- 
agreement between  the  East  and  West.  We  read 
that :  "  The  person,  therefore,  who  calls  that  place 
{i.e.  where  the  saints  are)  by  any  of  those  names 
that  we  have  mentioned  (e.g.  Paradise,  Abraham's 
Bosom,  etc.)  will  make  no  mistake,  provided  he  clearly 
recognise  that  these  souls  are  in  the  favour  of  God  and 
in  the  kingdom  of  Heaven,  or,  as  the  hymns  of  the 
Church  say,  in  Heaven."  ^  Another  writer  says  :  "  There 
are  certain  persons  who,  after  their  departure  from  this 
life,  obtain  forthwith  the  same  condition  of  life  as 
Christ,  for  the  Apostle  would  not  have  desired  to  be 
dissolved  unless  he  had  certainly  known  that  he  would 
be  immediately  with  Christ."  But  there  is  no  need 
to  multiply  quotations,  since  the  Greeks  strongly  deny 
that  there  is  any  intermediate  place  between  Heaven 
and  Hades,  and  consequently  are  bound  to  teach  that 
all  who  do  not  pass  to  Hades  are  received  into  Heaven. 

There  is,  of  course,  no  question  that  some  of  the  early 
Fathers  thought  that  Paradise  might  still  be,  as  it  was 

1  Reply  d^. 


276  The  Sottl  in  the   Unseen    World 

before  the  resurrection  of  our  Lord,  a  part  of  the  lower 
world  ;  they  seemed  to  believe  some  such  doctrine  as 
was  put  forward  by  Mark  of  Ephesus  after  the  Council 
of  Florence.  But  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
Greeks  have  rejected  this  belief — which  Macarius  says 
was  never  more  than  a  "  private  opinion."  Whether 
it  might  be  held  privately  now  by  a  member  of  the 
Orthodox  Church  is  uncertain. 

To  sum  up  the  Greek  doctrine  (which  was  once  also 
held  by  the  Latins),  we  may  say  they  teach :  (-1)  After 
death  there  is  a  particular  judgment ;  (2)  After  the 
particular  judgment  the  souls  that  are  perfect  ascend 
to  Heaven  —  which  the  Greeks  call  also  Paradise  and 
Abraham's  Bosom;  (3)  The  souls  that  are  unfit  for 
Heaven  are  sent  to  Hades,^  where  they  suffer  spiritual 
pains,  and  are  assisted  by  the  suffrages  of  the  Church 
on  earth ;  these  souls  are  set  free  from  Hades  and 
enter  Heaven  as  soon  as  they  are  perfected  ;  (4)  The 
souls  in  Heaven  await  their  full  reward — the  perfect 
consummation  of  bliss  both  in  body  and  soul  at  the 
last  day ;  (5)  Those  incapable  of  salvation  fall  into 
Hades  and  are  swallowed  up  of  it ;  they  await  an  in- 
crease of  sorrow  in  body  and  soul  at  the  last  day. 

This  appears  to  be  the  more  authoritative  teaching  of 
the  Orthodox  Church.  She  is  absolutely  united  in  her 
practice  of  prayer  for  the  departed,  but  tolerates  various 
views  on  the  details  of  eschatological  doctrine. 

■^  The  Latins  also  teach  that  the  imperfect  are  in  Hades,  but  in  a  special 
part  of  it  which  they  call  "  Purgatory." 


XIV. 

purQator?— IRoman  Bogma 


"  The  lesson  which  we  are  intended  to  learn  from  the  Church  of 
the  old  covenant  appears  to  be  that  a  real  religious  authority 
admits  of  being  so  much  misused  as  to  become  completely  mis- 
leading."—Canon  Gore. 


XIV. 

puroatoty— IRoman  Dogmatic  Ucacbim 

As  we  are  now  to  consider  the  teaching  of  the 
Roman  Church  on  the  intermediate  state,  it  is 
necessary  to  distinguish  clearly  between  what  the 
Roman  Church  herself  authoritatively  teaches  by  her 
Councils  and  dogmatic  decrees,  and  the  large  additions 
to  this  authoritative  teaching  made  by  her  theologians. 
The  Roman  Church  may  be  said  to  provide  a  text 
which  is  the  Roman  dogmatic  teaching,  and  upon 
this  text  the  theologians  raise  up  a  doctrinal  structure 
which  practically  becomes,  in  the  common  estimation, 
as  authoritative  as  the  text  itself.  These  additions 
of  the  theologians  form  the  Romish  doctrine.  There 
is,  however,  a  very  real  distinction  between  dogma 
and  the  doctrine  of  theologians.  The  dogmatic  teaching 
holds  a  place  apart,  and  cannot  be  questioned  by  any 
orthodox  Roman  Catholic.  To  deny  a  doctrine  that 
has  been  solemnly  defined  by  the  authority  of  their 
Church  would  be  accounted  heresy,  while  to  deny 
what  is  not  defined  but  only  commonly  taught  by 
theologians,  would,  at  the  worst,  not  exceed  the  sin 
of  "rashness."     A  doctrine  that  has  been  defined  by 

279 


280         The  Sotil  in  the   Unseen    World 

a  Council  is  called  a  dogma  of  "  Catholic  faith "  ;  the 
consent  of  theologians  upon  a  point  of  doctrine  is 
known  as  a  "common  opinion." 

This  distinction  is  often  ignored  by  those  outside 
the  Roman  Church,  who  suppose  that  everything  that 
is  commonly  taught  in  the  Church  of  Rome  is  equally 
binding  upon  the  faith  of  her  members.  Thus  no 
distinction  is  made  between  the  Roman  teaching  which 
is  de  fide  and  the  Romish  doctrine — concerning  this 
official  teaching — put  forward  by  theologians.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  distinction  is  often  unduly  exaggerated 
by  Roman  Catholic  controversialists,  who  draw  attention 
to  the  very  little  that  the  Roman  Church  teaches  as 
de  fide  upon  some  matters  of  belief,  and  imply  that 
no  one  is  required  to  believe  more.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  no  one  is  considered  a  "good  Catholic"  in  the 
Church  of  Rome  who  limits  his  belief  to  the  dogmatic 
faith  as  defined  by  the  Councils.  Such  an  one  would 
not  of  course  be  considered  a  formal  heretic,  but  he 
would  be  what  is  almost  worse  in  the  popular  ecclesias- 
tical mind— a  "liberal"  Catholic,  and  if  he  ventured 
to  speak  or  write  against  the  popular  undefined  belief 
fostered  by  the  common  consent  of  theologians,  his 
attitude  would  be  censured  as  "scandalous,"  and  his 
writings  and  words  as  "  rash,  pernicious,  injurious  to 
the  Church,  leading  into  error,  erroneous,  favouring 
heresy,  blasphemous,  impious,  and  offensive  to  pious 
ears."  Such  are  some  of  the  official  expressions  re- 
served for  those  who  depart — not  from  the   faith   but 


Purgatory — Roman  Dogmatic  Teaching    281 

— from  the   common   opinions   of  the  theologians,  or, 
in  other  words,  from  the  Romish  doctrine. 

While,  therefore,  it  is  quite  necessary  to  note  that 
there  is  a  great. distinction  between  the  dogmatic  faith 
of  the  Roman  Church  and  the  doctrine  of  the  Romish 
theologians  concerning  the  faith,  yet  it  is  equally  im- 
portant to  remember  that  it  is  the  Romish  doctrine  that 
is  everywhere  taught  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  that 
this  quasi  authoritative  teaching  represents  her  doctrinal 
and  practical  system  much  more  adequately  than  the 
more  vague  dogmatic  decrees  of  the  Councils.  Con- 
sequently it  is  disingenuous  for  Roman  controversialists 
to  argue  as  if  any  who  could  accept  the  teaching  of  the 
Councils  would  find  themselves  at  home  in  the  Roman 
communion.  When  the  Church  of  Rome  is  willing  to 
reckon  as  good  Catholics  those  who  do  not  assent  to 
more  than  her  dogmatic  <:reed,  and  when  she  really 
disowns  the  additions  to  her  faith  that  form  so  large 
a  part  of  what  is  everywhere  taught  in  her  pulpits  and 
encouraged  in  her  popular  devotions,  it  will  be  time 
enough  to  discuss  how  far  her  dogmatic  creed  expresses 
the  common  faith  of  the  whole  state  of  Christ's  Church. 
In  the  meantime  we  may  remember  that  it  has  been 
very  generally  confessed  that  it  was  the  practical  abuses 
which  were  fostered  by  the  Romish  doctrine,  that  neces- 
sitated a  reform  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  even  at 
the  present  day  it  is  this  practical  system  that  is  mainly 
objected  to  by  those  outside  the  Roman  communion, 
and  by  not  a  few  of  those  within. 


282  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen   World 

And  yet  there  is  no  sign  of  any  willingness  among 
the  rulers  of  the  Roman  communion  to  effect  any 
reform.  Only  lately  Anglo-Roman  bishops^  have  in- 
sisted upon  the  acceptance  of  the  Romish  doctrinal  and 
practical  system  as  being  quite  essential.  They  write : 
"  No  one,  calling  himself  a  Catholic,  can  doubt  the 
obligation  of  giving  a  firm  assent  to  all  revealed 
doctrines  that  are  defined  or  universally  held  by  the 
Church  as  of  'Catholic  Faith,'  and  this  under  pain  of 
heresy  and  being  cut  off  from  the  Church  and  salvation. 
.  .  .  But  it  may  be  well  to  insist  .  .  .  that  Catholics  are 
bound  to  give  their  assent  also  to  the  decisions  of  the 
Church  concerning  matters  appertaining  to  or  affecting 
revelation,  though  these  matters  be  not  found ,  strictly 
speaki7tg^  within  the  deposit  of  Faith.  Such  matters 
are,  for  instance,  the  interpretation  of  Scripture ;  the 
canonization  of  Saints ;  .  .  .  and  the  condemnation  of 
false  doctrines  by  the  Holy  See."  The  bishops  go  on 
to  show  that  Roman  Catholics  are  committed  to  even 
more  than  this,  and  must  give  "  religious  obedience  "  to 
teaching  that  "  does  not  fall  under  the  head  of  revealed 
truth,  nor  even  under  the  endowment  of  her  " — the  Roman 
Church's — "infallibility,  but  under  the  exercise  of  her 
ordinary  authority  to  feed,  teach  and  govern  the  flock 
of  Christ."  They  then  proceed  to  lay  down  principles 
that  would  involve,  for  instance,  the  tacit  assent  to  such 

■^  "  A  joint  pastoral  letter  on  the  Church  and  liberal  Catholicism  by  the 
Cardinal  Archbishop  and  the  bishops  of  the  province  of  Westminster," 
Dec.  29,  1900.  The  Pope  has  written  his  approval  of  this  Pastoral  in  a 
special  Encyclical  Letter  to  Cardinal  Vaughan. 


Purgatory — Roman  Dogmatic   Teaching    283 

a  decision  as  that  by  which  Galileo  was  condemned  for 
teaching  that  the  earth  moved.  They  write:  "  In  such  a 
case,"  i.e.  as  the  interpretation  given  by  the  Roman 
Congregations  to  a  disputed  passage  of  Holy  Scripture, 
"loyal  Catholics  should  accept  her  decision,  by  virtue 
of  religious  obedience,  as  the  one  to  be  followed  for  the 
present.  But  while  they  gratefully  accept  such  guidance 
in  a  matter  that  concerns  religion,  they  will  be  careful 
to  distinguish  between  this  guidance  and  the  Church's 
definitions  of  faith." 

Thus  the  Pastoral  recognises  what  has  been  said 
above  as  to  the  difference  between  the  dogmatic  de- 
cisions of  the  Roman  Church  and  the  Romish  doctrine, 
but  it  also  asserts  that  no  one  can  be  a  "  good  Catholic  " 
who  does  not  accept  the  Romish  doctrine  and  the 
decisions  of  the  Roman  Congregations,  which  it  calls 
the  "  guidance  "  given  by  the  Church. 

This  guidance,  we  are  told,  is  given  in  various  ways, 
"  by  pastoral  letters  of  Bishops,  diocesan  and  provincial 
decrees ;  and,  though  standing  respectively  on  higher 
ground  as  being  of  a  superior  order  and  covering  the 
whole  Church,  many  Acts  of  the  Supreme  Pontiff,  and 
all  the  decisions  of  the  Roman  Congregations."  In  fact, 
the  Pope  and  the  Roman  Congregations  seem  par  excel- 
lence to  be  proposed  as  guides.  It  is  well  to  remember 
that  if  the  "guidance"  of  some  of  the  Popes,  eg. 
Liberius  and  Honorius,  etc.,  had  been  followed,  the 
Church  would  have  been  led  into  heresy — and  that 
Pope  Honorius  was  condemned  as  a  heretic  by  several 


284  The  Sotcl  in  the   Unseen  World 

Councils  ;^  it  is  also  well  not  to  forget  that  the  Pope 
presided  over  the  meeting  of  the  Roman  Congregation 
of  the  Inquisition  which  condemned  Galileo  in  1616. 
The  guidance  which  these  two  authorities — the  Pope 
and  his  Roman  Congregation — then  gave  to  the  world 
is  contained  in  the  decree  condemning  as  "  false,  un- 
scriptural  and  destructive  of  Catholic  truth"  the  fact 
that  the  earth  moves  round  the  sun  !  And  yet  we  are 
now  told  in  the  twentieth  century  that  the  Roman  Con- 
gregations offer  a  superior  and  highly  authoritative  form 
of  guidance  "  covering  the  whole  Church."  In  a  similar 
case  to  Galileo's  the  right  attitude  for  a  modern  man  of 
science  would  be,  "  for  the  present,"  to  accept  this 
guidance,  and  that  not  grudgingly  but  "  gratefully." 

Two  points  are  now,  we  hope,  abundantly  clear  :  first, 
that  there  is  ample  room  for  strong  protest  against 
Romish  doctrine,  even  by  those  who  could  accept  the 
dogmatic  decrees  of  the  Roman  Church ;  and  also,  that 
the  Church  of  Rome  practically  requires  much  more 
than  belief  in  the  dogmas  defined  by  her  Councils. 
And  yet,  when  occasion  serves,  Roman  controversialists 
are  quite  ready  to  make  use  of  the  argument  that  this 
practical  system  is  not  de  fide,  and  that  it  is  to  her 
Councils  we  must  turn  to  ascertain  what  is  the  real 
teaching  of  the  Roman  Church.  At  the  beginning  of 
the    Oxford    Movement    this    line    of    argument    was 

^  The  Fathers  of  the  sixth  CEcumenical  Council  cried  out,  "Anathema 
to  the  heretic  Honorius  ! "  The  name  of  Pope  Honorius  was  placed  in 
the  Roman  Breviary  among  other  heretics  until  the  seventeenth  century. 


Purgatory — Roman  Dogmatic  Teaching    285 

popular.  Mr.  Palmer — of  Worcester  College — in  his 
controversy  with  Cardinal  Wiseman  wrote :  "  The 
language  of  the  Council  of  Trent  has  been  your  invari- 
able refuge  whenever  we  have  pressed  you  hard  with 
the  errors  and  superstitions  prevalent  in  your  Church. 
To  this  alone  you  would  gladly  direct  our  attention  as 
presenting  the  only  exposition  of  doctrine  authorised 
by  all  the  Churches  in  communion  with  Rome.  What- 
ever else  may  be  held  or  practised  amongst  you  is,  you 
would  assure  us,  only  a  matter  of  private  opinion  or 
practice — quite  uftauthorised !  And  your  Church  is 
therefore  to  be  held  responsible  for  nothing  but  the 
comparatively  guarded  statements  of  the  Council  of 
Trent.  .  .  .  This  is  a  very  convenient  system  of  argu- 
ment. It  enables  you  to  avoid  any  discussion  on  the 
weak  points  of  your  Church,  and  to  raise  an  outcry 
against  the  prejudice  and  bigotry  of  those  who  would 
venture  to  impute  superstition  ...  to  the  Church  of 
Rome  generally.  It  will  be  my  endeavour  to  show  that 
there  is  some  authoritative  teaching  in  the  Church  of 
Rome  besides  that  of  the  Council  of  Trent ;  and  when 
you  can  show  that  the  .  .  .  superstitious  doctrines  and 
practices  thus  authorised  in  your  Church  are  openly 
opposed  and  condemned  by  any  influential  portion  of 
its  members — but  not  till  then — we  shall  be  willing  to 
relieve  your  communion  from  the  imputations  which 
must,  at  present,  adhere  to  it."^ 

To-day  Rome  has  changed  her  policy  in   England. 

^  Letters  on  Romanism, 


286  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen  World 

Having  gained,  as  she  hopes,  a  firm  foothold,  she  no 
longer  minimises  her  teaching,  but  demands  implicit 
"religious  obedience"  to  all  she  has  devised.  Dr.  Pusey 
often  insisted  that  it  was  this  quasi  authoritative  teach- 
ing of  the  theologians,  and  the  practical  Roman  system 
(not  the  dogmatic  decrees),  that  formed — before  the 
Infallibility  was  defined — the  real  barrier  between 
England  and  Rome.  Now,  considering  that  the  Roman 
Church  claims  to  be  the  whole  Church  of  God  on 
earth,  and  that  outside  her  communion  there  is  no 
covenanted  salvation,  it  seems  amazingly  cruel  that 
she  should  drive  people  from  her  fold,  and  keep 
multitudes  from  entering  it,  by  insisting  upon  opinions 
and  practices  which  are  confessedly  in  no  way  essential, 
or  part  of  the  original  deposit  of  faith  committed 
by  our  Lord  to  the  Church;  and  that  she- should 
insist  upon  the  acceptance  of  her  opinion  upon  subjects 
on  which  she  acknowledges  she  may  be  mistaken, 
and  have  eventually — as  in  the  case  of  Galileo — to 
retract.^  We  cannot  see  the  spirit  of  Christ  in  such 
an  attitude. 

Since  the  definition  of  the  Infallibility  all  hope  of 
reunion  has  for  the  time  necessarily  been  lost.  And 
yet  it  is  not  the  dogma  of  the  Infallibility  of  the  Pope 
that,  with  the  bulk  of  people,  forms  the  main  ground 
of  difficulty  as  to  the  Roman  Church.    To  the  historian, 

^  The  possibility  of  error  is  allowed  in  the  "Joint  Pastoral,"  but  this  is 
said  to  be  no  excuse  for  rejecting  the  decisions  of  the  Roman  Congrega- 
tions. 


Purgatory — Roman  Dogmatic   Teaching    287 

indeed,  this  dogma  is  a  crux  greater  than  any  other, 
but  to  most  men  it  is  still  the  Romish  doctrine  as 
distinct  from  the  dogmatic  faith  of  Rome  that  bars 
the  way,  in  their  estimation,  to  reunion. 

As  Dr.  Pusey  truly  said  :  "  The  Council  of  Trent 
laid  down,  in  many  cases,  what  is  very  far  below 
the  practical  system,  encouraged  at  present  everywhere 
in  the  Church  of  Rome,  taught  in  her  name,  and  with 
her  authority,  but  which,  on  being  questioned,  no 
Roman  Catholic,  I  believe,  would  declare  to  be  de  fide. 
And  yet,  take  not  ourselves  only,  but  the  general 
body  of  Englishmen,  whether  instructed  or  not  in- 
structed, it  will  be  of  this  as  yet  undefined  body  of 
practical  belief  that  they  will  be  thinking  when  they 
speak  of  our  '  reformed  Church,'  or  against  becoming 
Roman  Catholics.  If  they  speak  against  Papal  authority 
it  is  not  in  itself  (which  would  be  a  matter  of  in- 
difference), but  as  an  authority,  which,  if  they  submitted 
to  it,  would  enforce  upon  them  that  practical  system. 
Probably  too  there  is  an  hereditary  dread  of  the  renewal 
of  the  fires  of  Smithfield,  the  sinfulness  of  which  has 
never  been  disowned." ^  And  again,  "I  doubt  not  that 
the  Roman  Church  and  ourselves  are  kept  apart  much 
more  by  that  vast  practical  system  that  lies  beyond 
the  letter  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  things  which  are 
taught  v/ith  a  quasi  authority  in  the  Roman  Church, 
than  by  what  is  actually  defined.  Nothing  could  be 
more  unpractical  than  for  an  individual  to  throw  him- 

^  An  Eirenicon^  p.  99. 


288  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

self  into  the  Roman  Church  because  he  could  accept 
the  letter  of  the  Council  of  Trent."  ^ 

But  it  is  not  only  those  outside  the  Roman  com- 
munion who  have  recognised  and  deplored  this  fact. 
To  quote  but  one  example  of  the  many  that  have 
in  one  way  or  another  pleaded  for  the  recognition  of 
what  is  essential  and  what  is  not,  we  may  refer  to 
Father  Duggan's  book,  Steps  towards  Reunion.  After 
showing  that  the  infallibility  of  the  (Roman)  Church 
is  not  even  supposed  to  extend  to  all  that  is  taught 
in  her  communion  and  is  not  concerned  at  all  with 
matters  of  discipline,  he  adds  :  "  We  Catholics  always 
have  said  that  on  questions  of  discipline  it  is  possible 
for  us  to  give  up  anything  .  .  .  But  on  doctrine  can 
we  surrender  anything  ?  I  show  that,  contrary  to  what 
is  commonly  said  by  Catholics,  we  can  surrender  a 
vast  body  of  doctrine.  We  can  surrender  all  that  is 
taught  not  by  the  Church  but  in  the  Church  by 
theologians.  And  the  difference  between  what  is  taught 
by  the  Church  and  what  is  taught  by  theologians  is 
enormous.  The  quantity  of  what  the  Church  teaches 
is  not  great ;  all  the  definitions  put  together  would 
make  a  very  small  book.  Even  if  we  added  the 
Catechism  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  which  is  also  the 
teaching  of  the  Church,  though  not  so  authoritative 
as  the  definitions,  still  the  book  would  be  small. 
Whereas  theologians  have  written  an  immense  number 
of  books  .  .  .  There   is   of  course   no  doubt   that  we 

^  An  Eirenicon,  p.  98. 


Purgatory — Roman  Dogmatic  Teaching    289 

can   surrender    practically   all   that    theologians    teach 
over  and  above  what  the  Church  teaches." 

In  turning  to  the  dogmatic  teaching  of  the  Roman 
Church  on  the  intermediate  state  we  find  it  is  very 
little.  It  is  contained  in  the  decrees  of  th^  Council 
of  Florence  and  the  Council  of  Trent.  We  have 
already  quoted  the  definition  of  the  Council  of  Florence.^ 
The  Council  of  Trent  decreed  that,  "  There  is  a  Pur- 
gatory, and  the  souls  there  detained  are  relieved  by 
the  suffrages  of  the  faithful,  but  chiefly  by  the  accept- 
able sacrifice  of  the  altar."  To  this  should  be  added 
the  Canon  passed  in  the  sixth  session,  "  If  any  one 
shall  say  that,  after  the  grace  of  justification  received, 
unto  every  penitent  sinner  the  guilt  is  so  remitted, 
and  the  penalty  of  eternal  punishment  so  blotted  out, 
that  there  remains  not  any  penalty  of  temporal  punish- 
ment to  be  discharged  in  this  world,  or  in  the  next 
in  Purgatory,  before  the  entrance  to  the  kingdom  of 
Heaven  can  be  laid  open ;  let  him  be  anathema."  This 
is  all  that  the  Church  of  Rome  herself  teaches  as  to  the 
intermediate  state. 

With  reference  to  this  dogmatic  teaching  we  may 
note  that  the  Council  of  Florence  limits  the  possibility 
of  purification  in  the  next  world  to  those  who  "have 
departed  truly  penitent  and  in  the  love  of  God."  This 
appears  to  unduly  narrow  the  hope  of  salvation.  Some 
of  the  Fathers  who  speak  of  a  purification  after  death 
had  chiefly  in  their  mind  those  sinners  who  gave  little, 

^  See  p.  265. 


290         The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

if  any,  sign  of  departing  in  the  love  of  God  or  of  being 
truly  penitent  To  make  this  decree  of  Florence  as 
wide  in  its  hope  as  that  of  these  early  Fathers  it  should 
be  explained  that  by  "those  who  depart  hence  truly 
penitent,"  etc.,  is  meant  those  who  depart  capable  of 
salvation  ;  and  by  the  words,  "  others  who  depart  in 
mortal  sin,  or  even  in  original  sin  descend  into  infernus 
to  be  punished  in  different  degrees,"  is  meant  that  if 
any  are  incapable  of  salvation  they  are  excluded  from 
Heaven,  and  so  are  punished.  It  is  certainly  true  that 
jn  this  world  the  consequences  of  sin  are  not  removed 
at  the  same  time  as  its  guilt.  Many  a  penitent  has 
to  bear  the  temporal  punishment  of  sins  long  since 
bitterly  repented  of  The  loss  of  a  good  name,  the 
injury  to  health,  the  sting  of  regret,  the  withdrawal 
of  the  friendships  that  have  been  so  valued  a  part  of 
life,  all  these  temporal  punishments  too  often  remain 
long  after  the  penitent  has  heard  the  absolving  word, 
"The  Lord  hath  put  away  thy  sin." 

How  far  some  spiritual  discipline  will  be  required 
hereafter  is  not  revealed,  though  we  are  distinctly  told 
that  chastisement  is  not  necessarily  inconsistent  with 
the  love  of  God  for  the  soul.  We  read  that,  "  Whom 
the  Lord  loveth  He  chasteneth,  and  scourgeth  every 
son  whom  He  receiveth.  If  ye  endure  chastening  God 
dealeth  with  you  as  with  sons ;  for  what  son  is  he 
whom  the  father  chasteneth  not  ?  But  if  ye  be  without 
chastisement  whereof  all  are  partakers,  then  are  ye 
bastards   and    not    sons.      Furthermore   we   have   had 


Purgatory — Roman  Dogmatic   Teaching    291 

fathers  of  our  flesh  which  corrected  us,  and  we  gave 
them  reverence ;  shall  we  not  much  rather  be  in  sub- 
jection unto  the  Father  of  spirits  and  live?  For  they 
verily  for  a  few  days  chastened  us  as  seemed  good  to 
them  ;^  but  He  for  our  profit,  that  we  might  be  partakers 
of  His  holiness.  Now,  no  chastening  for  the  present 
seemeth  to  be  joyous,  but  grievous ;  nevertheless 
afterward  it  yieldeth  the  peaceable  fruit  of  righteous- 
ness unto  them  which  are  exercised  thereby."  But 
this  correction  is  entirely  educational,  and  not  inflicted 
as  a  means  of  paying  off  a  debt  by  suffering. 

As  long,  then,  as  any  suffering  there  may  be  here- 
after for  those  who  are  the  sons  of  God  and  destined 
for  the  Father's  house,  is  thought  of  as  a  continuation 
of  the  loving  discipline  by  which  God  leads  us  to 
holiness  in  this  world,  there  can  be  no  difficulty.  If, 
on  the  contrary,  by  "  satisfaction "  made  through 
"  purgatorial  pains "  it  is  meant  that  God  inflicts  suffer- 
ing merely  as  such,  and  is  pleased  to  see  suffering  and 
propitiated  by  it,  then  we  can  only  reject  the  doctrine 
as  altogether  heathenish.  We  cannot  think  that 
punishment  hereafter  is  vindictive,  even  in  the  case  of 
those  who  may  have  hardened  themselves  into  a  state 
that  may  render  them  incapable  of  ever  finding  joy 
in  the  presence  of  God.  Their  punishment  is  perhaps 
involved  in  their  own  spiritual  condition  of  hardened 
rebellion  and  undying  remorse,  from  which  all  repent- 
ance is  absent.     Still  less  can  we  think  that  God  would 

^  Marginal  reading. 


292  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen   World 

torment  or  allow  to  be  tormented  those  who  are  daily 
being  more  and  more  conformed  to  the  likeness  of  His 
Son.  It  may,  however,  be  true  that  the  soul  that  loves 
God  even  ever  so  little  will  suffer  a  hunger  and  thirst 
after  righteousness  which  may  be  painful  in  its  intensity 
after  it  has  seen  the  Face  of  Christ  in  the  particular 
judgment.  In  this  sense  its  purgatorial  pains  may  be 
necessary  and  inseparable  from  its  condition,  which  is 
yet  imperfect.  Who  can  deny  a  soul  may  suffer  that 
knows  itself  imperfect  and  at  the  same  time  knows 
as  before  it  had  never  known  the  beauty  of  holiness? 
The  pain  of  such  a  soul  is  that  of  which  the  Psalmist 
speaks,  "  Like  as  the  hart  desireth  the  water-brooks, 
so  longeth  my  soul  after  Thee,  O  God.  My  soul  is 
athirst  for  God,  yea,  even  for  the  living  God :  when 
shall  I  come  to  appear  before  the  presence  of  God  ? " 
As  there  is  nothing  in  the  dogmatic  teaching  of  the 
Roman  Church  as  to  torments  and  fires  in  the  inter- 
mediate state,  it  would  seem  that  the  definition  of 
Florence  might  be  explained  in  such  a  way  as  to  make 
it  quite  in  accord  with  Holy  Scripture  and  the  teaching 
of  the  Eastern  Church. 

Turning  to  the  Council  of  Trent,  we  find  that  it  either 
added  nothing  at  all  to  the  decree  of  Florence,  or  else 
merely  defined  what  had  been  for  centuries  the  belief 
of  the  West  (though  denied  by  the  Greeks),  that  the 
souls  of  the  departed  are  purified  and  perfected  in  a 
part  of  Hades  distinct  from  the  Hell  of  the  reprobate. 
This  assertion  seems  to  be  altogether  reasonable.     It 


Purgatory — Roman  Dogmatic   Teaching    29 


'> 


is  entirely  repugnant  to  our  minds  to  think"  of  those 
who  are  destined  for  Paradise  as  imprisoned  with  the 
devils  and  the  maliciously  wicked.  But  even  the 
assertion  that  Purgatory  is  a  distinct  place  is  more 
than  the  definition  of  Trent  necessarily  teaches.  Its 
statement  that  "  Purgatory  exists "  {Purgatorium  esse) 
may  be  understood  of  a  state  quite  as  well  as  a  place, 
and  it  is  so  explained  by  the  Jesuit  Father  Hunter 
in  his  volumes  entitled  Outlines  of  Dogmatic  Theology. 
After  saying  that  the  brief  decree  of  Trent  contains 
"  the  whole  of  the  defined  doctrine  of  the  Church  upon 
the  subject,"  he  adds,  speaking  of  the  fact  that  death 
does  not,  as  far  as  we  know,  of  itself  perfect  the  soul, 
"  it  follows  therefore  that  some  process  of  cleansing  is 
possible,  and  this  process  is  called  Purgatory,  from  the 
Latin  word  meaning  to  cleanse."  ^ 

Some  years  ago  a  Belgian  Jesuit  Father,  in  referring 
to  the  dogmatic  teaching  of  the  Council  of  Trent  on 
Purgatory,  wrote : — 

"  Nothing  can  be  wiser  than  these  decrees.  The 
Council  did  not  decide  anything  as  to  whether  Pur- 
gatory is  a  particular  place  in  which  the  souls  may 
be  enclosed,  after  what  manner  they  are  purified, 
whether  it  is  by  fire  or  otherwise,  what  is  the  severity 
of  their  pains,  nor  what  is  their  duration,  to  what 
precise  point  they  are  assisted  by  the  prayers,  by  the 
good  works  of  the  living,  or  by  the  Holy  Sacrifice 
of  the  Mass,  etc.  .  .  . 

Vol.  iii.  p.  442. 


294  ^-^^  Soul  in  the   Unseen  World 

"  Theologians  can  have  their  opinions  upon  these 
various  questions,  but  they  are  neither  dogmas  of  faith, 
nor  are  they  absolutely  certain,  and  no  one  is  forced 
to  subscribe  to  them."^ 

It  is  true  "  no  one  is  forced "  under  pain  of  actual 
heresy  to  subscribe  to  the  Romish  doctrine,  but,  as 
we  shall  see  in  the  next  chapter,  very  much  is  forced 
upon  the  belief  of  Roman  Catholics  who  desire  to 
"think  with  the  Church,"  as  they  say. 

The  points  in  the  Conciliar  decrees  on  Purgatory  that 
seem  to  need  explanation  are  those,  then,  connected 
with  the  meaning  of  the  words  "  who  die  truly  penitent 
and  in  the  love  of  God,"  and  the  reference  to  satisfaction 
hereafter  made  by  bearing  the  "  temporal  punishment " 
due  to  sin.  We  have  no  certainty  that  any  "temporal 
punishment"  is  meted  out  unless  it  be — as  it  is  on 
earth  —  educational,  corrective,  or  exemplary.^  If  it 
is  intended  to  teach  that  a  soul  fit  for  Heaven — free, 
that  is,  from  all  stain  of  sin,  and  perfected  in  holiness 
according  to  its  capacity — is  detained  in  Purgatory 
simply  in  order  that  it  may  endure  tortures  which 
are  merely  punitive,  then  such  a  doctrine  of  temporal 
punishment  in  the  future  life  seems  inconsistent  with 
all  we  know  of  God's  dealings  with  us  here,  from 
which  we  are  wont  to  argue  as  to  what  He  will  do 
hereafter. 

The  well-known  lines  in  Dr.  Newman's  poem,   The 

^  Let  us  not  Forget  our  Dear  Dead,  F.  Varseur,  SJ. 
2  See  p.  313. 


Purgatory — Roman  Dogmatic  Teaching    295 

Dream  of  Gerontius,  are  an  example  of  the  way  in 
which  the  statements  of  the  Councils  of  the  Roman 
Church  as  to  "  purgatorial  pains "  may  be  taken  in  a 
purely  spiritual  sense  : — 

"When  then — if  such  thy  lot — thou  seest  thy  Judge, 
The  sight  of  Him  will  kindle  in  thy  heart 
All  tender,  gracious,  reverential  thoughts. 
Thou  wilt  be  sick  with  love,  and  yearn  for  Him, 
And  feel  as  though  thou  couldst  but  pity  Him, 
That  one  so  sweet  should  e'er  have  placed  Himself 
At  disadvantage  such,  as  to  be  used 
So  vilely  by  a  being  so  vile  as  thee. 
There  is  a  pleading  in  His  pensive  eyes 
Will  pierce  thee  to  the  quick,  and  trouble  thee. 
And  thou  wilt  hate  and  loathe  thyself ;  for  though 
Now  sinless,  thou  wilt  feel  that  thou  hast  sinned, 
As  never  thou  didst  feel ;  and  wilt  desire 
To  slink  away,  and  hide  thee  from  His  sight ; 
And  yet  wilt  have  a  longing  aye  to  dwell 
Within  the  beauty  of  His  countenance. 
And  these  two  pains,  so  counter  and  so  keen,— 
The  longing  for  Him,  when  thou  seest  Him  not ; 
The  shame  of  self  at  thought  of  seeing  Him, — 
Will  be  thy  veriest,  sharpest  purgatory." 

The  statement  made  by  the  Council  of  Trent  as  to 
the  value  of  suffrages  for  the  departed  is — it  need 
hardly  be  said — perfectly  in  accordance  with  what  was 
believed  in  the  primitive  Church,  and  with  what  is 
now,  as  formerly,  taught  in  the  Eastern  Church.  To 
deny  that  the  departed  are  to  be  prayed  for,  or  that 
the  Eucharist  is  to  be  pleaded  on  their  behalf,  would 
be  to  cut  one's  self  off  from  all  historical  Christianity. 


296  The  Sotil  in  the   Unseen  World 

Prayers  for  the  departed  have  been  valued  by  the 
whole  Church  of  God  from  the  very  first  ;  they  spring 
from  that  deep-rooted  spirit  of  faith,  hope,  and  love 
which  has  refused  to  allow  that  death  is  destructive 
of  those  mutual  good  offices  which  the  Christian  Church 
insists  upon  in  her  doctrine  of  "the  Communion  of 
Saints."    - 


XV. 


Zhc  IRomieb  Doctrine 
concerning  purgator? 


"OF  PRAYER  FOR  SOULS  DEPARTED" 

From  A  Necessary  Doctrine  and  Erudition  for  any  Christian  Man^ 
commonly  called  The  King's  Book,  published  by  authority  of  King, 
Parliament,  and  Convocation  in  sixteenth  century. 

"  It  is  much  necessary  that  all  such  abuses  as  heretofore  have 
been  brought  in  by  supporters  and  maintainers  of  the  papacy 
of  Rome,  and  their  complices,  concerning  this  matter,  be  clearly 
put  away ;  and  that  we  therefore  abstain  from  the  name  of 
purgatory,  and  no  more  dispute  or  reason  thereof.  Under  colour 
of  which  have  been  advanced  many  fond  and  great  abuses,  to 
make  men  believe  that  through  the  Bishop  of  Rome's  pardons 
souls  might  clearly  be  delivered  out  of  it,  and  released  out  of  the 
bondage  of  sin  ;  and  that  masses  said  at  Scala  Cceli  and  other 
prescribed  places,  phantasied  by  men,  did  there  in  those 
places  more  profit  the  souls  than  in  another  ;  and  also  that  a 
prescribed  number  of  prayers  sooner  than  other  (though  as 
devoutly  said)  should  further  their  petition  sooner,  yea,  especially 
if  they  were  said  before  one  image  more  than  another  which  they 
phantasied.  All  these,  and  such  like  abuses,  be  necessary  utterly 
to  be  abolished  and  extinguished." 


XV. 

XTbe  IRomtsb  doctrine  concerning  puroatots 

THERE  are  few  among  those  who  believe  that  the 
next  life  is  one  of  progress  who  could  not  accept 
the  dogmatic  teaching  of  the  Roman  Church  as  to 
Purgatory,  if  Purgatory  be  explained  to  be  the  name 
given  to  the  means  by  which  progress  is  made,  what- 
ever those  means  may  be.  When  we  pass  from  the 
dogmatic  to  the  Romish  popular  teaching  as  to 
Purgatory  we  at  once  understand  what  is  meant  by 
our  Article  XXII.,  which  says  that  "The  Romish 
doctrine  concerning  Purgatory  {Doctrina  Romanensium 
de  Purgatorid)  ...  is  a  fond  thing  vainly  invented  and 
grounded  upon  no  warranty  of  Scripture,  but  rather 
repugnant  to  the  Word  of  God." 

It  is  very  necessary  clearly  to  distinguish  between 
a  belief  in  a  future  process  of  purification  and  spiritual 
growth — a  belief  held  as  an  opinion  in  the  Eastern 
Church,  by  multitudes  of  Protestants  of  all  denomina- 
tions, and  by  very  many  Anglicans — and  the  Romish 
doctrine  concerning  this  process.  This  distinction  is  a 
well-understood  one.     It  is,  for  instance,  quite  possible 

299 


300  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen  World 

to  believe  firmly  that  "  there  is  a  Heaven,  or  Paradise," 
and  yet  confidently  to  assert  that  "the  Mohammedan 
doctrine  concerning  Paradise  is  a  fond  thing,  vainly 
invented,  and  grounded  upon  no  warranty  of  Scripture, 
but  rather  repugnant  to  the  Word  of  God." 

To  some  extent  this  distinction  was  recognised  by 
the  Council  of  Trent  itself,  which  published  "  a  decree 
touching  Purgatory "  that  ran  as  follows :  "  The  holy 
Synod  enjoins  on  bishops  that  the  sound  doctrine  on 
Purgatory,  delivered  by  the  holy  Fathers  and  sacred 
Councils,  be  believed.  .  .  .  But  let  the  more  difficult 
and  subtle  questions,  and  those  which  tend  not  to 
edification,  and  from  which  for  the  most  part  there 
is  no  increase  of  piety,  be  excluded  from  popular 
discourses  before  the  uneducated  multitude.  In  like 
manner  such  things  as  are  uncertain  or  which  labour 
under  an  appearance  of  error,  let  them  not  allow  to 
be  made  public  and  treated  of.  But  those  things  which 
tend  to  a  certain  kind  of  curiosity,  or  superstition,  or 
which  savour  of  filthy  lucre,  let  them  prohibit  as 
scandals  and   stumbling-blocks  of  the  faithful."  ^ 

Unfortunately,  the  good  intentions  of  the  Fathers 
of  Trent  have  been  for  the  most  part  frustrated,  and 
those  abuses  which  sprang  from  the  "  difficult  and  subtle 
questions "  that  the  theologians  and  pious  writers  are 
chiefly  concerned  with  have  by  no  means  been  abolished, 
though  they  may  have  suffered  some  abatement.  The 
Romish  doctrine  settles  everything  "  concerning  Purga- 

^  Session  xxv.     The  first  part  of  this  decree  is  quoted  on  p.  289. 


Romish  Doctrine  coiicerning  Purgatory     301 

tory  "  that  the  Councils  left  undecided.  Thus,  according 
to  Romish  doctrine,  it  is  everywhere  taught  (i)  that 
the  souls  in  Purgatory  are  tortured  with  pains  the  least 
of  which  is  greater  than  the  worst  torture  imaginable 
on  earth ;  (2)  that  the  souls  are  tormented  by  material 
fire,  and  according  to  some  by  devils ;  (3)  that  the 
Pope  can  grant  indulgences  applicable  to  the  souls 
in  Purgatory ;  (4)  that  the  Pope  can  make  an  altar 
"  privileged  "  so  that  every  Mass  said  at  such  an  altar 
offers  to  God  a  sufficient  satisfaction  to  free  a  soul  from 
Purgatory;  (5)  that  the  Blessed  Virgin  on  certain 
occasions  descends  into  Purgatory  and  delivers  those 
who  were  devout  to  her ;  and  a  multitude  of  similar 
fables. 

As  all  this  body  of  Romish  doctrine  is  everywhere 
taught  in  the  Roman  communion,  it  is  difficult  to 
choose  quotations  from  the  immense  storehouse  there 
is  to  draw  from.  One  might  begin  with  the  Summa 
of  St  Thomas  Aquinas,  and  in  the  writings  of  every 
approved  theologian  down  to  the  present  day  find 
abundant  material ;  to  this  we  could  add,  by  way  of 
supplement,  the  whole  mass  of  legends  and  revelations 
to  be  found  in  the  Lives  of  the  Saints  and  in  the 
approved  books  of  devotion  used  in  the  Roman 
communion  throughout  the  world.  All  that  is  here 
possible  is  to  give  a  typical  quotation  on  each  of  the 
above  points  from  a  standard  work  of  theology,  or 
a  well-known  spiritual  writer. 

I.  As    to   tortures. — Quotations    have    already   been 


302  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen  World 

given  from  Aquinas.^  The  Catechism  of  the  Council 
of  Trent — a  work  of  great  authority — says  :  *'  There 
is  a  purgatorial  fire,  where  the  souls  of  the  righteous 
are  tortured  by  a  temporary  punishment  {ad  definitum 
tempus  cruciatce  expiantur)  that  entrance  may  be  given 
them  into  their  eternal  home,  where  nothing  that  is 
defiled  can  have  a  place."  Pope  Benedict  XIV.  writes, 
in  his  explanation  of  the  Offertorium^  to  which  reference 
has  been  made  :  ^  "It  seems  that  we  should  say  that 
the  Church,  in  that  anthem  of  Offertory  in  Masses 
for  the  dead,  means  the  punishments  of  Purgatory : 
she  calls  Purgatory  Hell,  because  there  is  the  same 
fire  in  both  places ;  and  she  prays  that  the  souls  may 
be  delivered  from  the  deep  pit  and  the  mouth  of  the 
lion — that  is,  from  the  subterranean  prison  in  which 
the  souls  of  the  just  are  expiated ;  and,  finally,  the 
Church  prays  to  God  that  '  Tartarus  may  not  swallow 
them  up,  and  that  they  may  not  fall  into  the  thick 
darkness' — that  is,  that  they  may  not  be  longer  detained 
in  the  gloomy  prison,  struggling  in  so  many  torments." 
Bellarmine  writes:  "The  Fathers^  constantly  teach 
that  the  pains  of  Purgatory  are  most  fierce  {atro- 
cissimas)!'  and  that  "no  pains  in  this  life  can  be 
compared  to  them,"  and  that  "  in  a  certain  sense  all 
writers  admit  that  the  pains  of  Purgatory  are  greater 
than  those  of  this  life." 

^  See  p.  263.  '  See  p.  256. 

'  This  is  not  true,  for  even  in  the  time  of  St.  Augustine  (a.d.  354-430) 
there  was  nothing  more  taught  than  the  possibility  of  some  Purgatory 
(see  p.  219). 


Romish  Doctrine  concerning  Purgatory     303 

As  an  example  of  the  ordinary  teaching  we  may 
quote  the  words  of  Mgr.  de  Segur:  "Purgatory  is 
that  formidable  future  in  which  we  are  destined  to 
pay  all  that  we  owe  to  Divine  justice.  Purgatory 
presents  the  darkness  and  the  desolation,  the  grief 
and  the  remorse  of  Hell.  There  is  the  same  terrible 
fire,  there  are  the  same  torments ;  everything  is  the 
same  save  despair  and  eternity.  The  same  fire  torments 
the  lost  souls  in  Hell  and  the  penitent  souls  in  Purgatory 
;  ,  .  These  souls  are  in  outer  darkness^  like  the  souls 
of  the  lost.  They  know  not  the  time  when  their 
expiation  will  be  ended.  .  .  .  Perhaps  not  for  twenty 
years — a  hundred  years !  perhaps  not  until  the  end 
of  the  world  !  .  .  .  Terrible  perhaps  ! "  ^ 

n.  As  to  material  fire. — St.  Thomas  Aquinas  and 
almost  all  theologians  teach  that  there  is  a  corporeal, 
material  fire,  the  same  as  that  of  Hell,  in  which  the 
souls  in  Purgatory  are  tortured.  Bellarmine  says  :  "  It 
is  the  general  judgment  of  theologians  that  the  fire 
[of  Purgatory]  is  truly  and  properly  such,  and  of  the 
same  species,  with  our  elementary  fire  {verum  et propriuin 
esse  ignem,  et  ejusdeni  speciei  cum  nostro  elementari)P 
Schouppe,  a  modern  Jesuit  theologian  whose  Elements 
of  Dogmatic  Theology  is  much  used  in  seminaries,  writes  : 
"As  regards  the  pain  of  sense  the  constant  opinion 
of  the  Latins  is  to  be  retained,  that  the  fire  in 
Purgatory  is  material  fire  {ignem  tnaterialem)  like  that 
in   Hell."      Another   Jesuit  writer  of  the  present  day 

^  Familiar  Instructions,  vol.  i.  p.  98. 


304  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

expatiates  with  great  minuteness  upon  the  tortures 
of  Purgatory,  and  condemns  those  who  disHke  pictures 
of  the  souls  "  to  be  found  abroad,  representing  the  souls 
in  Purgatory  in  burning  flames,  under  excruciating 
torments,  which  are  sometimes  administered  by  demons 
as  the  executioners  of  the  justice  of  God.  Such 
pictures,"  he  says,  "  are  frequently  used  in  missions  to 
the  people,^  or  are  to  be  found  in  popular  books  of 
devotion  about  Purgatory."  Of  the  greatness  of  the 
pain  of  sense  in  Purgatory  this  writer  says  :  "  We  need 
only  say  that  it  is  clear  from  the  language  of  Scripture, 
from  reason,  and  from  the  sense  of  the  Church,  which 
is  in  full  harmony  with  the  general  tone  of  the  revela- 
tions contained  in  the  lives  of  the  Saints,  that  the  pain 
of  sense  in  Purgatory  is  something  so  severe  and 
intense  that  we  can  form  of  it  no  adequate  conception 
in  this  life."  He  goes  on  to  say  that  the  opinion  that 
the  fire  in  Purgatory  is  metaphorical  "can  hardly 
approve  itself  to  a  Catholic  mind,"  and  tells  the 
story  of  the  vision  of  St.  Christina,  "  who  was  called 
back  to  this  world  after  having  seen  the  sufferings  of 
the  next,  and  who  spent  the  rest  of  her  life  in  the  most 
severe  penances  for  the  relief  of  the  holy  souls.  She 
stated  that  immediately  on  her  soul  leaving  her  body 
she  was  taken  by  the  angels  to  a  dark  and  horrible 
place,  full  of  the  souls  of  men  ;  the  torments  that  she 

^  This  sort  of  thing  was  condemned  by  the  Council  of  Trent,  which 
forbade  things  "uncertain"  to  be  taught  in  "popular  discourses  before 
the  uneducated  multitude "  who  form  the  bulk  of  those  who  attend 
"Missions." 


Romish  Doctrine  concerning  Purgatory     305 

there  witnessed  were  so  terrible  that  no  tongue  could 
express  them ;  she  saw  there  the  souls  of  many  she 
had  known  in  this  life,  and  was  moved  to  intense 
compassion  for  them.  She  asked  what  the  place  was, 
thinking  it  must  be  Hell,  but  she  was  told  that  it  was 
Purgatory,  and  that  the  souls  whose  sufferings  moved 
her  compassion  so  much  had  been  sinners  who  had 
repented  of  their  sins,  but  not  done  sufficient  penance 
for  them."  Father  Coleridge  adds :  "  But,  in  truth,  there 
is  but  one  tone  about  all  these  revelations :  they 
uniformly  represent  the  torments  of  Purgatory  as 
severe  in  the  utmost  degree."  1  We  have  only  to 
remember  that  according  to  Roman  theology  the 
souls  in  Purgatory  are  all  ^^  Holy  Souls,"  are  at  the 
worst  only  detained  there  for  the  guilt  of  venial  sins  ^ — 
that  is,  for  sins  so  slight  that  they  do  not  even  need 
to  be  confessed  ;  we  have  only  to  remember  that  it 
is  these  righteous  souls  who  are  tormented  in  this 
awful  manner,  to  see  how  the  Romish  teaching 
contradicts  the  plain  statements  of  the  Bible.  There 
we  are  distinctly  told,  in  the  Wisdom  of  Solomon — a 
book  that  the  Roman  Church  holds  to  be  canonical — 
that — instead  of  being  in  "  a  dark  and  horrible  place," 
and  in  "  torments  so  terrible  that  no  tongue  can  express 
them  " — "  the  souls  of  the  righteous  are  in  the  hand  of 
God,  and  there  shall  no  torment  touch  them."    It  may  be 

^   The  Prisoners  of  the  King,  p.  199. 

2  There  is  also  the  supposed  "temporal  punishment"  due  to  all  sin  to 
be  paid  in  Purgatory. 
X 


3o6  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen   World 

safely  said  that  the  belief  in  the  merely  penal  torments 
of  the  souls  of  the  righteous  in  Purgatory  is  not  only 
"  repugnant  to  the  Word  of  God,"  but  to  the  whole 
witness  of  the  primitive  Church,  and  to  every  instinct 
of  justice  and  mercy.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at 
that  this  Romish  doctrine  has  driven  men  to  the 
opposite  extreme,  and  hindered  them  from  realising 
that  there  is  any  growth  in  holiness  possible  hereafter. 
If  the  Protestant  bodies  have  lost  sight  of  the  value 
of  prayer  for  the  departed,  the  blame  must  be  laid 
at  the  door  of  the  Roman  Church  for  everywhere 
encouraging  the  unscriptural  doctrine  of  her  theologians 
that  souls,  after  the  guilt  of  their  sins  has  been  taken 
away,  have  yet  to  "satisfy  the  justice  of  God"  by 
enduring  torments  so  great  that  no  language  can 
describe  them. 

III.  Indulgences. — The  Romish  doctrine  concerning 
Purgatory  is  closely  associated  with  the  granting  of 
Indulgences.  The  theory  of  Indulgences  in  the  Church 
of  Rome  is  a  corruption  of  the  belief  that  the  Church 
has  a  right  to  inflict  penance  upon  her  children,  and 
power  to  remit  this  penance  either  wholly  or  in  part. 
In  our  Commination  Service  we  are  told  that  "  In 
the  primitive  Church  there  was  a  godly  discipline  .  .  . 
that  such  persons  as  stood  convicted  of  notorious 
sin  were  put  to  open  penance,  and  punished  in  this 
world  that  their  souls  might  be  saved  in  the  day 
of  the  Lord ;  and  that  others,  admonished  by  their 
example,  might  be  the  more  afraid  to  offend."     Some- 


Romish  Doctrine  concerning  Purgatory     307 

times  this  penance  lasted  for  many  years,  and  occa- 
sionally it  seemed  good  to  the  Church  to  abridge  it, 
and  admit  the  penitent  to  absolution.  Such  a  remission 
of  canonical  penance  was  then  considered  to  be  an 
instance  of  the  indulgence  or  tenderness  of  the  Church 
towards  one  truly  penitent,  but  still  unabsolved  and 
shut  out  from  the  Holy  Communion.  Occasionally 
her  indulgence  was  shown  at  the  petition  of  one  who 
was  about  to  undergo  martyrdom,  and  desired,  as  a 
favour,  that  the  Church  would  abridge  the  penance 
of  some  penitent.  The  Church  found  it  difficult  to 
refuse  anything  to  her  martyrs.  The  remission  of 
penance,  for  whatever  reason  it  was  granted,  had  of 
course  no  reference  to  what  was  due  to  the  justice 
of  God :  it  was  a  remission  of  a  punishment  that  the 
Church  herself  had  inflicted.  This  is  made  clear  in 
the  writings  of  St.  Cyprian,  who  is  often  quoted  by  the 
Romish  theologians  in  support  of  their  novel  doctrine, 
whereas  St.  Cyprian's  words  tell  in  quite  the  opposite 
direction.  The  Church,  he  argues,  may  remit  what 
she  has  inflicted,  but,  "  Let  no  man  deceive  or  beguile 
himself  The  Lord  only  can  have  mercy.  He  alone 
can  grant  pardon  for  sins  which  against  Himself  have 
been  committed,  Who  bare  our  sins.  Who  grieved  for 
us.  Whom  God  delivered  for  our  offences.  Man  cannot 
be  greater  than  God ;  it  is  not  for  the  servant  to  yield 
his  grace  and  indulgence,  when  the  offence  is  mainly 
against  the  Lord ;  for  then  the  lapsed  will  be 
committing  a  fresh  crime  by  ignorance  of  that  which 


3o8  The  Sotd  in  the   Unseen   World 

is  afore-written,  *  Cursed  is  he  that  putteth  his  hope 
in  man.'  .  .  .  But  if,  with  unseemly  haste,  any  rash 
man  thinks  that  he  can  give  remission  of  sins  to  any, 
or  dares  to  rescind  the  precepts  of  the  Lord,  he  brings 
not  gain  to  the  lapsed  but  harm."  ^  Indeed  St.  Cyprian 
was  opposed  to  the  remission  of  penance  as  tending 
to  lessen  repentance. 

After  the  system  of  public  penance  broke  down,  a 
substitute  for  it  was  found  in  "  penance  by  tariff," 
i.e.  the  penitent  might  confess  to  a  priest,  and  re- 
ceive a  penance  fixed  by  a  tariff  contained  in  the 
"  penitential."  If  the  penitent  accepted  the  penance, 
he  might  at  once  be  admitted  to  Holy  Communion. 
This  admission  was  only  granted  on  the  understand- 
ing that  he  would  perform  the  penance  for  the  length 
of  time  specified  ;  it  might  be  days,  or  months,  or 
years.  For  certain  reasons  the  authority  who  im- 
posed the  penance  might  grant  a  remittance  or  in- 
dulgence of  all  or  part  of  it.  But  here  again  there 
was  no  idea  of  the  indulgence  being  an  equivalent 
of  penance,  much  less  a  "  satisfaction  to  the  justice  of 
God."     It  was  the  removal  of  penance. 

The  present  Romish  doctrine  of  Indulgences- 
founded  partly  upon  a  grievous  distortion  of  the 
tenderness  and  indulgence  which  the  early  Church 
occasionally  showed  to  those  who  were  unabsolved 
and  doing  penance  for  notorious  sin,  and  partly  on 
penance  by  tariff  referred  to  above — was  not  dreamed 

^  De  Laps.  12. 


Romish  Doctrine  concerning  Pu7^gatory     309 

of  for  more  than  twelve  hundred  years  after  Christ. 
It  was  about  the  thirteenth  century  that  the  Popes 
and  theologians  invented  the  doctrine  that  the  old 
canonical  penances  were  not  only  corrective  and 
exemplary  punishments  inflicted  by  the  Church,  but 
were  also  "satisfactions"  due  to  the  justice  of  God, 
in  payment  of  the  debt  of  temporal  punishment  due 
to  sin.  They  further  asserted  that  all  the  super- 
abundant satisfaction  made  to  God  by  the  merits  of 
Jesus  Christ,  by  the  Blessed  Virgin,  and  the  saints, 
were  placed  in  a  treasury,  over  which  the  Pope  had 
control.  Out  of  this  treasure  the  Pope  could  take 
various  quantities  of  merit,  and  attach  the  merit  to 
the  performance  of  some  devotional  practice,  or  to  the 
doing  of  some  good  work.  A  prayer  or  work  of  this 
sort  was  said  to  be  "  indulgenced,"  and  whoever 
complied  with  the  conditions  gained  the  Indulgence. 
Hence  it  is  now  taught  that  one  who  performs  a  work 
or  says  a  prayer  that  is  indulgenced,  say  for  seven 
years,  does  by  that  work  or  prayer  offer  to  God  as 
much  satisfaction  for  his  sins  as  if  he  had  performed 
seven  years  of  canonical  penance  under  the  primitive 
discipline  of  the  Church.  Thus  Indulgences  no  longer 
refer  to  the  remission  of  canonical  penance,  but  profess 
to  be  a  way  of  reaping  the  benefits  of  that  penance. 
Father  Hunter — a  modern  Jesuit  writer — referring  to 
the  statement  of  the  Council  of  Trent  that  Indulgences 
are  salutary  and  useful,  says  that,  *'  If  their  effect 
was  merely  to  remit  some  portion  of  public  canonical 


3 1  o  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen   World 

penance,  they  would  not  be  salutary,  but  useless,  for 
these  public  penances  have  long  been  obsolete ;  besides 
which  their  effect  would  be  to  deprive  a  sinner  of  a 
comparatively  easy  opportunity  of  making  satisfaction, 
and  leave  him  exposed  to  the  far  greater  pains  of 
Purgatory."^  Certainly  the  use  of  Indulgences  pro- 
vides an  easy  way  of  making  satisfaction  compared 
with  the  severe  discipline  of  the  early  Church,  since 
hundreds  of  days  of  indulgence  are  attached  to  the 
recitation  of  such  exclamations  as  "  Sweet  Heart  of 
Mary,  be  my  salvation,"  or  "  Jesus,  mercy !  Mary, 
help ! "  and  other  such  trifles,  while  fifty  years'  indul- 
gence can  be  gained  daily  by  anyone  who  cares  to 
spend  a  quarter  of  an  hour  saying  the  Rosary  or  going 
round  the  Stations  of  the  Cross. 

But  let  us  notice  Father  Hunter's  argument  in  defence 
of  Indulgences.  He  maintains  that  an  Indulgence  cannot 
now  be  merely  a  relaxation  of  canonical  penance,  since 
such  penance  is  no  longer  imposed  by  the  Church. 
This  is  of  course  quite  true,  and  would  seem  an 
excellent  reason  for  the  ceasing  of  Indulgences.  But 
the  Church  of  Rome  still  grants  Indulgences,  and 
indeed  she  grants  them  in  such  a  lavish  way  that 
none  would  have  needed  to  have  done  canonical  penance 
for  a   single   day  had   the  primitive   Church   acted   as 

^  Outlines  of  Dogtnatic  Theology^  S.  J.  Hunter,  SJ.,  vol.  iii.  p.  344. 
Father  Hunter's  argument  is  based  on  the  doctrine  which  teaches  that 
God  requires  a  "quantitative  satisfaction"  for  each  sin — after  He  has 
pardoned  the  sinner.     The  canonical  penance  was  done  before  absolution. 


Romish  Doctrine  concerning  Purgatory     311 

Rome  now  acts.  What  is  quite  clear,  then,  argues 
Father  Hunter,  is  the  fact  that,  since  the  abolition  of 
canonical  penance,  Indulgences  must  either  pay  a  debt 
due  to  the  justice  of  God  or  be  useless,  since  they 
no  longer  mean  the  remission  of  penalties  imposed 
by  the  Church  on  earth.  Those  who  gain  Indulgences, 
then,  do  not  suppose  they  are  paying  a  debt  to  the 
discipline  of  the  Church,  but  one  due  to  the  justice 
of  God.  This  debt  they  think  was  formerly  paid  by 
doing  canonical  penance,  and  they  rightly  conclude 
that  if  it  is  not  now  paid  by  Indulgences  the  Church, 
having  abolished  canonical  penance,  has  abolished  all 
means  of  payment,  except  by  the  untold  tortures  of 
Purgatory.  This  we  cannot  suppose  the  Church  would 
do,  and  so  it  follows  that  Indulgences  are  useful,  since 
it  is  by  them  that  the  debt  due  to  the  justice  of  God 
is  paid  off. 

Such  is  the  Romish  argument  in  support  of  In- 
dulgences. As,  however,  the  primitive  Church  only 
imposed  canonical  penance  on  those  who  had  com- 
mitted  grievous   and   notorious   sin,i   it  is   difficult   to 

^  Thus  St.  Augustine  writes :  "  Once  for  all  we  have  the  washing  in 
Baptism,  every  day  we  have  the  washing  in  Prayer.  Only,  do  not  commit 
those  things  for  which  ye  must  needs  be  separated  from  Christ's  body  : : 
that  be  far  from  you  !  For  those  whom  ye  see  doing  penance  [agere 
p£eniteniia?Ji)  have  committed  heinous  things  ...  for  these  they  do 
penance.  Because  if  theirs  had  been  lesser  sins,  daily  prayer  would  have 
been  sufficient  to  blot  them  out.  In  three  ways,  then,  are  sins  remitted 
in  the  Church — by  baptism,  by  prayer,  by  the  greater  humiliation  of 
penance."  This  "greater  humiliation"  was,  moreover,  only  allowed 
once  in  a  lifetime.     There  was  no  obligation  for  over  a  thousand  years  for 


3 1 2  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen    World 

see  how  Indulgences  (which  can  only  be  gained  by 
those  who  are  free  from  any  serious  sin")  can  in  any 
way  pay  any  debt  that  was  formerly  paid  by  canonical 
penance.  To  be  in  any  way  the  equivalent  of 
canonical  penance  Indulgences  should  be  limited  to 
those  who  would  have  had  to  perform  penance  in  the 
primitive  Church.  But  these  are  just  the  persons  who 
are  theoretically  excluded  from  gaining  an  Indulgence, 
while  those  who  are  able  to  gain  Indulgences  are, 
for  the  most  part,  pious  folk  who  would  have  been 
exempt  in  primitive  times  from  all  canonical  punish- 
ments. 

Thus  the  pretence  that  Indulgences  pay  a  debt  to 
God  that  was  formerly  paid  by  penance  is  perfectly 
untrue.  The  truth  is,  that  the  primitive  Church  looked 
upon  canonical  penance  as  a  disciplinary  correction  and 
an  exemplary  punishment  of  notorious  sinners.  She 
believed,  as  we  do,  that  the  debt  due  to  the  justice 
of  God,  if  such  there  be,  was  paid  by  the  infinite  merits 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  not  by  canonical  penance  which 
was  corrective,  or  by  Indulgences  which,  in  the  modern 
sense,  are  a  fond  invention. 

This  is  also  the  belief  of  the  whole  Eastern  Church, 
and  is  well  expressed  in  The  Longei'-  Catechism^  where, 
after  speaking  of  the  Passion  of  our  Lord,  we  are  told, 

any  to  confess  their  secret  sins  to  a  priest,  though  they  were  allowed 
to  do  so.  Those  who  cannot  look  up  the  subject  in  the  Fathers  generally, 
may  consult  Dr.  Pusey's  summary  of  Patristic  teaching  on  Penance  and 
Confession  in  the  Oxford  edition  of  Tertullian.  I  have  given  an  outline 
of  Patristic  teaching  in  The  Crown  of  Christy  vol.  ii.  p.  374.    • 


Romish  Doctrine  concerning  Ptirgatory     313 

"  His  voluntary  suffering  and  death  on  the  cross  for 
us,  being  of  infinite  value  and  merit,  as  the  death  of  one 
sinless,  God  and  man  in  one  Person,  is  both  a  perfect 
satisfaction  to  the  justice  of  God,  which  had  condemned 
us  for  sin  to  death,  and  a  fund  of  infinite  merit,  which 
has  obtained  Him  the  right  without  prejudice  to  justice, 
to  give  us  sinners  pardon  for  our  sins  and  grace  to  have 
victory  over  sin  and  death."  Hence  it  is  denied  by 
the  Orthodox  Eastern  Church  that  penances  were  or 
are  satisfactions  to  God.  Speaking  of  the  canonical 
penance  due  to  notorious  sin,  we  are  told  that,  "open 
penance  ...  is  with  strict  propriety  called  a  satisfaction 
to  the  Church,  which  they  (notorious  offenders)  have 
scandalised."  The  same  is  taught  as  to  penance  in 
general.  The  priest  is  told  that  "at  the  time  of 
absolution  are  to  be  enjoined  penances  consisting  of 
some  particular  good  works,  as  prayer,  fasting,  alms ; 
not  that  they  make  satisfaction  to  God  for  sin,  for  Christ 
'by  one  offering  of  Himself  in  sacrifice  to  God  the 
Father  '  hath  perfected  for  ever  them  that  are  sanctified,' 
but  that  through  the  said  penances  we  may  show  forth 
'worthy  fruits  of  repentance.'"  This  is  the  old  faith 
of  the  Church,  which  the  Greeks  have  retained,  and 
to  which  we  of  the  Anglican  Church  have  reverted. 

However,  according  to  the  Romish  doctrine,  a  person 
who  would  have  been  exempt  from  canonical  penance 
can  by  an  Indulgence  gain  the  same  merit  as  if  they 
had  performed  the  old  canonical  penance  of  the  Church 
for   the    number    of    days    or   years    specified    in    the 


314  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

Indulgence.  The  merit  so  gained  can  be  used  either 
to  pay  off  his  own  debt  to  the  justice  of  God,  and 
to  lessen  the  future  time  of  punishment  in  Purgatory, 
or  it  can  be  applied  "  by  way  of  suffrage "  to  some 
soul  already  undergoing  torture  in  Purgatory.  The 
doctrine  that  Indulgences  are  applicable  to  the  dead 
is  still  more  modern  than  the  belief  that  they  pay 
off  the  debts  of  those  who  gain  them.  Few  Indulgences 
for  the  dead  were  heard  of  until  the  fifteenth  century, 
but  since  then  they  have  occupied  the  chief  place 
in  Rome's  theology  as  to  Purgatory.  Thus  it  is  now 
taught  that  if  a  soul  in  Purgatory  owes  a  debt  to  God 
equivalent  to  what  would  have  formerly  required  three 
hundred  days  of  canonical  penance  for  its  liquidation, 
the  debt  may  be  paid  for  it  by  someone  on  earth 
uttering  the  exclamations,  "Jesus,  Mary,  and  Joseph, 
I  give  you  my  heart  and  my  soul.  Jesus,  Mary,  and 
Joseph,  assist  me  in  my  last  agony.  Jesus,  Mary,  and 
Joseph,  may  I  breathe  forth  my  soul  in  peace  with  you," 
because  the  Pope  has  seen  fit  to  attach  to  these  extra- 
ordinary sentences  no  less  than  three  hundred  days' 
indulgence.  . 

Fifty  years'  indulgence  can  be  gained  by  a  priest 
every  morning  if  he  says  a  short  form  of  "  intention," 
given  in  the  preparation  for  Mass  in  the  Breviary.^ 

^  In  a  book  entitled  Instructions  on  the  Commandments  and  Sacraments^ 
"translated  from  the  Italian  of  S.  Liguori,"  we  are  told  (p.  292):  "He, 
who  hears  Mass  gains  an  indulgence  of  3,800  years,"  and  (p.  293)  "  They 
who  say  five  Paters  and  Aves  in  honour  of  the  Passion  of  Jesus  Christ 
and  the  dolours  of  the  Virgin  Mary  gain  an  indulgence  of  10,000  years"  ! 


Romish  Doctrine  concerning  Purgatory     315 

An  element  of  uncertainty  is,  however,  introduced, 
as  the  Pope  candidly  confesses  he  will  not  absolutely 
promise  that  God  will  attach  full  value  to  the 
Indulgences,  and  therefore  it  is  never  safe  to  stop 
payment ;  moreover,  no  one  knows  exactly  how  much 
is  owing  to  the  justice  of  God.  This  keeps  up  the 
zeal  of  the  faithful  for  gaining  Indulgences,  and 
theologians  magnify  the  debt  due  to  God  and  the 
probable  long  duration  of  Purgatory  to  such  an  extent, 
that  no  zeal  for  gaining  Indulgences  can  ever  be  too 
great  or  rest  satisfied. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  doctrine  has  been 
the  fruitful  parent  of  great  practical  abuses.  The  sale 
of  Indulgences  was  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  the  Re- 
formation, and  was  bitterly  satirised  by  many  of  the 
Romanists  themselves.  Rome  herself  has  tried  to 
correct  some  of  the  more  scandalous  abuses,  but  the 
whole  doctrine  is  corrupt  and  cannot  be  reformed. 
Abolition  is  the  only  cure ;  hence  at  the  Reformation 
the  Church  of  England  abolished  the  whole  theory 
on  which  Indulgences  are  made  to  rest.  The  Greek 
Church  has  never  accepted  the  Romish  doctrine,  and 
denounces  it  in  the  strongest  terms. 

At  the  present  day  there  is  a  tendency  among  the 
more  ardent  Romanists-  to  lay  great  stress  on  the 
value  of  Indulgences.  This  may  be  seen  in  any 
books  of  popular  devotion,  especially  those  written 
for  the  less  educated  people,  and  for  those  who  belong 
to  pious  confraternities   and    attend  missions.     Father 


3i6  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen    World 

Coleridge,  in  his  book,  The  Prisoners  of  the  King^ 
writes  :  "  When  we  review  all  the  means  of  aiding 
them  [the  souls  in  Purgatory]  which  God  has  put  into 
our  hands — prayers,  masses,  communions,  almsdeeds, 
mortifications,  pilgrimages,  the  Divine  Office,  the  Office 
of  the  dead,  or  of  our  Blessed  Lady,  the  holy  Rosary, 
works  of  active  mercy,  the  teaching  of  the  Christian 
doctrine,  the  attending  of  funerals,  and  a  thousand 
more — we  can  find  none  more  powerful  in  themselves, 
if  the  fruit  be  really  gained,  none  more  honourable 
to  God  and  to  our  Lord  and  to  His  Church,  than 
this  of  holy  Indulgences."  He  insists  much  on  this 
doctrine,  and  reminds  us  that  "  the  remission  of  the 
pain  due  to  sins,  which  is  the  fruit  of  an  Indulgence, 
can  only  fall  on  those  sins  the  guilt  of  which  has  been 
already  forgiven,"  and  assures  us  that  "  the  great  ease 
with  which  Indulgences  may  now  be  gained  is  a  great 
blessing  to  the  faithful  of  our  times,  a  great  blessing 
to  those  who  avail  themselves  of  it  largely  and 
diligently,  while  it  may  turn  out  to  be  a  cause  of 
severe  self-reproach  to  those  who  neglect  to  avail 
themselves  of  the  immense  benignity  of  the  Church." 

IV.  Privileged  Altars. — The  traffic  in  Masses  is  still 
one  of  the  chief  sources  of  revenue  in  the  Roman 
Church. 

Looked  at  from  one  point  of  view,  there  is  something 
to  be  said  for  the  custom  of  charging  a  certain  sum 
to  those  who  desire  the  priest  to  offer  the  Mass  for 
their   own    special    intention.      It   is    said    that   to   do 


Romish  Doctrine  concerning  Purgatory     3 1  7 

this  is  merely  to  act  on  the  principle  that  they  who 
serve  the  altar  are  entitled  to  live  by  the  altar,  and 
that  it  does  not  matter  whether  a  priest  is  paid  so 
much  a  year  or  so  much  for  each  service  he  performs. 
This  is  not  a  fair  statement  of  the  case,  since  the  taking 
of  money  for  Masses  is  by  no  means  restricted  to 
priests  who  are  otherwise  without  stipend.  The  wealthy 
Religious  Orders  and  the  more  fashionable  churches^ 
are  the  chief  recipients  of  the  vast  sums  that  are 
paid  for  the  application  of  the  fruit  of  the  Sacrifice 
to  particular  and  private  objects.  We  find,  therefore, 
that  a  great  deal  of  exhortation  is  given  to  the  laity 
to  stir  them  up  to  obtain  Masses  for  themselves  and 
others  and  the  souls  in  Purgatory.  Now,  there  is  no 
question  that  the  primitive  Church  taught  that  the 
Eucharist  was  rightly  offered  for  the  departed,  but 
it  was  then  supposed  that  the  Church  made  this 
offering  for  all  the  faithful — living  and  departed — 
whenever  the  Sacrifice  was  offered.  Those  who 
desired  to  pray  for  some  special  intention  did  so  at 
the  time  when  the  Eucharist  was  being  celebrated, 
and  no  doubt  the  priest  was  asked  to  pray  for  the  same 
object.  But  there  was  no  custom  of  multiplying 
Eucharists  and  repeating  the  Sacrifice  frequently  for 
private   intentions.     There  was   but   one  Eucharist   in 

^  At  Lourdes  and  other  places  of  pilgrimage  there  are  regular  box- 
offices  for  booking  and  paying  for  masses  ;  so  numerous  are  the  orders  that 
large  ledgers  are  needed  for  their  entry,  and  in  spite  of  the  large  staff 
of  priests  all  masses  are  often  booked  for  a  month  ahead. 


3i8  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen   World 

a  church  on  the  same  day,  and  the  Sacrifice  was 
not  always  offered  daily.  Now  all  this  is  changed  in 
the  Roman  Church,  but  not  in  the  Eastern.  Thirty 
Masses  for  one  departed  are  the  least,  it  is  said,  that 
should  be  ordered  by  a  well-to-do  person,  and  as  each 
Mass  (in  England)  costs  five  shillings,  it  is  clear  that 
if  the  laity  act  on  this  advice  the  sums  received  for 
Masses  for  the  dead  must  be  very  large.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  the  wealthy  Roman  Catholics  would  not  think 
of  limiting  their  order  for  Masses  to  this  small  number, 
and  the  more  generous  are  accustomed  to  send  much 
larger  sums  than  those  fixed  by  authority .^ 

Father  Coleridge  writes :  "  The  custom  of  thirty 
Masses  still  remains,  and  it  would  be  well  if  this  holy 
devotion  were  revived  among  us,  as  far  as  is  possible, 
at  least,  as  to  the  number  of  Masses  which  those  who 
are  able  should  procure  for  their  own  relatives  and 
friends.  A  kindred  question  to  this  would  be  another, 
whether  it  is  better  to  found  anniversary  Masses ^  for  the 
dead  for  perpetuity,  or  to  procure  a  great  number  of 
Masses  to  be  said  at  once."  The  balance  seems  to  turn 
in  favour  of  the  anniversary  Masses,  as  they  "  enhance 
the  splendour  of  the  Church  by  supporting  her  ministers, 
and  the  like.  In  the  last  place,"  continues  the  same 
writer,  "  it  is  well  that  we  should  remember  the  custom 
which  prevails  among  the  faithful  in  many  countries 

^  Queen  Christina  of  Spain,  a  few  years  ago,  left  money  for  10,000 
Masses  for  herself  and  her  husband. 
^  See  reference,  to  the  scapular  and  Purgatory,  p.  322, 


Romish  Doctrine  concerning  Purgatory     319 

of  having  Masses  celebrated  ...  for  their  own  souls, 
the  satisfaction  of  which  Masses  is  to  be  applied  to 
their  deliverance  when  they  come  to  Purgatory."  All 
this  advice  is,  it  would  seem,  due  to  a  forgetfulness 
of  the  promises  made  by  our  Lady  to  Simon  Stock, 
that  she  would  liberate  anyone  from  Purgatory  on 
the  Saturday  after  their  death  if  they  only  would  take 
the  trouble  to  wear  her  scapular ! 

We  come  now  to  the  special  efficacy  of  Masses 
for  the  departed  celebrated  at  what  is  called  a 
"  Privileged  Altar."  Such  an  altar  is  one  to  which 
the  Pope  has  attached  "a  plenary  indulgence  for  one 
soul  in  Purgatory  to  all  Masses  said  at  it  for  the  dead."^ 
The  effect  of  a  plenary  Indulgence,  if  accepted  by  God 
at  its  full  value,  would  be  the  liberation  of  a  soul 
from  Purgatory.  Hence  Father  Coleridge  says,  "  It 
must  be  clear  that  a  Mass  celebrated  at  a  privileged 
altar  is  more  directly  and  powerfully  beneficial  to  a 
soul  in  Purgatory  than  another.  .  .  ." 

The  following  description  is  given  by  the  Abbe 
Thiers  ^  of  the  origin  and  uses  of  privileged  altars  : 
"  The  first  notion  apparently  came  from  some  mendicant 
monk,  who,  judging  that  this  devotion  could  not  be 
indifferent  to  his  convent,  solicited  its  establishment, 
or  caused  it  to  be  solicited,  at  Rome.  ...  He  there 
procured  a  Brief  for  a  privileged  altar,  for  which  he 
obtained  the   approbation    of  his    Ordinary,  who  was 

^  A  Catholic  Dictionary^  p.  695  (second  edition). 
'^  Traiti  des  Superstitions, 


2)20  The  Sottl  in  the   Unseen    World 

perhaps  an  accommodating  and  obliging  person.  He 
then  caused  it  to  be  printed,  posted  up,  and  published 
everywhere ;  had  tablets  made,  with  the  inscription, 
PRIVILEGED  ALTAR,  in  large  letters;  set  them  above 
the  altar  designed  for  Indulgences,  on  the  doors  of  his 
church,  and  over  the  principal  door  of  his  convent ; 
caused  the  bells  to  ring  and  chime  in  an  extraordinary 
manner ;  sent  notes  to  every  house ;  confessors  invited 
devotees  to  the  ceremony ;  the  Offices  were  solemnly 
performed,  the  church  magnificently  adorned,  and  the 
privileged  altar  above  all ;  the  Indulgences  were  pro- 
claimed ;  the  people  came  in  crowds  to  gain  them, 
confessed,  communicated,  and  asked  for  Masses  at  the 
privileged  altar ;  the  monks  who  had  previously  been 
poor  had  something  to  spare ;  the  community  was 
augmented  to  dispose  of  this ;  in  a  word,  they  derived 
benefit  from  this  new  invention. 

"  Nothing  more  was  requisite  to  excite  the  jealousy 
of  other  mendicants.  .  .  .  From  the  churches  of  the 
mendicant  monks  they  passed  to  those  of  the  other 
Regulars,  thence  to  some  of  the  estated  monks,  to 
parishes,  to  Collegiate  and  even  to  Cathedral  churches. 
It  was  perceived  that  they  brought  Masses  to  the 
mendicants,  and  that  the  payments  for  these  Masses 
were  a  great  assistance  in  supporting  communities. 
Other  monks  judged  that  this  was  a  method  not  to 
be  neglected  ;  they,  like  the  mendicants,  set  up  titles 
of  privileged  altars ;  some  even  went  beyond  these 
titles,  and  added,  "  HERE  A  SOUL  IS  DELIVERED  FROM 


Romish  Doctrine  concerning  Purgatory     321 

PURGATORY  AT  EVERY  MASS  "  ;  and  others,  while  Mass 
was  said  at  their  privileged  altars  (especially  from  the 
consecration  to  the  end  of  the  communion),  let  off  small 
fireworks  in  the  background,  in  order  to  mark  that  at 
this  moment  a  soul  went  out  of  Purgatory  straight  into 
Heaven  !  This  I  have  seen  practised  in  a  celebrated 
church,  and  all  Paris  might  have  seen  it  as  well  as  I. 

"As  there  are  always  some  monks  in  a  monastery, 
some  priests  in  parishes  .  .  .  who  have  a  little  more 
sl^ill  than  others  .  .  .  how  to  dress  altars  .  .  .  they  are 
usually  charged  with  the  Sacristy,  the  Registry,  and 
the  Mass  account ;  and  in  order  to  deserve  well  of  their 
communities  .  .  .  one  of  their  first  cares  is  to  have  a 
chapel  to  some  new  saint,  a  new  relic  or  some  extra- 
ordinary image,  but  particularly  a  privileged  altar,  in 
order  to  make  Masses  come, to  the  Sacristy,  under  pre- 
text of  gaining  indulgences  and  delivering  souls  from 
Purgatory.  .  .  .  This  is  the  utility  of  privileged  altars." 

V.  Fables. — Another  aspect  of  the  Romish  doctrine 
concerning  Purgatory  is  that  brought  into  prominence 
by  the  innumerable  pious  fables — that  are  told  as  if 
they  were  perfectly  true — of  the  power  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  over  Purgatory.  Father  Coleridge  merely  re- 
presents the  common  teaching  of  his  Church  when  he 
extols  "  the  doctrine  which  attributes  to  our  Blessed 
Lady  a  peculiar  prerogative,  as  well  as  a  special  care 
in  regard  of  Purgatory  and  its  prisoners."  We  are  told 
that  the  "lives  of  the  saints  in  the  chronicles  of  the 
religious  orders  are  full  of  anecdotes   and  revelations 

Y 


322  The  Soul  tjt  the   Unseen   World 

which  all  tend  to  the  same  conclusion,  that  our  Lady- 
is  constantly  exercising  her  power  in  favour  of  these 
Holy  Souls."  A  few  of  these  legends  have  resulted 
in  forms  of  devotion  to  which  enormous  Indulgences 
have  been  granted  by  the  Popes.  Unfortunately,  it  is 
just  those  the  Popes  have  most  highly  indulgenced  that 
have  been  shown  (not  by  Protestants,  but  by  learned 
and  candid  Roman  Catholic  historians)  to  be  based 
entirely  upon  forgeries  and  deception.  The  most 
popular  of  these  devotions  after  the  holy  Rosary  is  that 
known  as  the  "  brown  scapular."  The  story  goes  that 
the  Blessed  Virgin  appeared  to  St.  Simon  Stock,  founder 
of  the  Carmelite  Order  of  Monks,  and  handed  to  him  a 
scapular  [i.e.  a  piece  of  cloth  worn  over  the  breast  and 
back),  with  the  promise,  "  No  one  dying  in  this  scapular 
will  suffer  eternal  burning."  This  was  interpreted  to 
mean  that  any  person  who  wore  any  scapular  sanctioned 
by  the  Carmelites  was  secure  from  eternal  damnation — 
a  pleasant  and  easy  way  of  attaining  to  Paradise  !  This, 
however,  was  not  enough,  and  so  the  holy  Virgin  ap- 
peared about  a  century  later  to  Pope  John  XXIII.  and 
promised  that  "If  any  one  of  them  (who  wore  her 
scapular)  went  to  Purgatory,  she  herself  would  descend 
and  free  them  on  the  Saturday  following  their  death." 

It  may  seem  strange  that  such  an  absurd  story, 
attributing  such  immoral  promises  to  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  should  have  ever  been  listened  to,  even  in  an 
uncritical  and  superstitious  age.  What,  however,  is 
really  amazing  is  that  the  legend  is  still  taught  and 


Romish  Doctrine  concerning  Pttrgatory    323 

the  use  of  the  scapular  is  in  the  present  day  among 
the  most  popular  and  commonly  practised  forms  of 
Roman  Catholic  devotion.  It  appears  to  matter  little 
that  the  legend  had  its  origin  in  imposture  and  for- 
gery, and  has  been  proved  by  learned  Roman  Catholic 
historians^  to  be  absolutely  without  any  reasonable 
foundation.  It  is  still  preached  and  still  proclaimed  as 
a  glory  of  the  Carmelite  Order.  Just  consider  what 
the  promises  which  are  attributed  to  the  Blessed  Virgin 
amount  to.  If  they  mean  anything,  they  mean  that 
the  whole  scheme  of  salvation,  as  made  known  in  the 
Gospel,  is  superseded  by  the  wearing  of  two  strings 
and  two  scraps  of  cloth,  which  have  been  bestowed 
on  someone  under  the  sanction  of  the  Carmelites  as 
the  equivalent  of  their  scapular.  Let  a  man  live  as  he 
will,  and  sin  wilfully  up  to  the  last,  he  cannot  be  lost 
if  he  wear  this  scapular,  for  the  Blessed  Virgin  is 
pledged  to  obtain  his  salvation,  and  not  only  that, 
but  she  has  also  engaged  herself  to  procure  his 
liberation  from  Purgatory  and  admission  to  the 
Beatific  Vision  within  a  few  days  after  death  at  the 
longest.  No  doubt  this  sounds  an  exaggeration,  but 
it  is  not,  and  if  anyone  cares  to  assure  himself  that  it 
is  not  he  can  do  so  by  referring  to  a  correspondence 
that  took  place  between  Father  Ryder,  of  the  Oratory, 
and  Father  Clarke,  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  in  The 
Tablet  newspaper  during  November  and  December, 
1886.      Father    Ryder   wished    to    explain    away    the 

^  See  the  article  on  the  Scapular  in  A  Catholic  Dictionary ^ 
by  W.  E.  Addis  and  Thomas  Arnold, 


o 


24  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 


promise  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  as  meaning  that  only 
those  who  died  in  a  state  of  grace  would  be  saved. 
Father  Clarke  allowed  that  none  who  died  in  mortal 
sin  could  be  saved,  but  vigorously  maintained  that  the 
promise  meant  that  none  who  wore  the  scapular  could 
die  in  mortal  sin,  since  the  Blessed  Virgin  would  at  the 
moment  of  death  obtain  for  them  the  grace  of  contri- 
tion. The  only  condition  that  Father  Clarke  made  to 
the  promise  was  that  the  scapular  should  be  worn  "  out 
of  devotion  to  Mary."  He  does  not  assert  that  any- 
one who — when  unconscious,  for  example — was  in- 
vested with  a  scapular  and  died  in  it  would  be  able 
to  claim  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise.  Father  Clarke 
says  that  if  our  Lady  merely  meant  that  those  who 
die  in  a  state  of  grace  would  be  saved,  St.  Simon  Stock 
might  well  have  replied  to  her,  "  Thank  you  for  nothing 
at  all.  Everyone  who  dies  in  grace  is  secure  of  salva- 
tion. Your  promise,  therefore,  is  worth  nothing,  and 
your  scapular  a  mere  superfluous  decoration."  Father 
Clarke  continues :  "  I  take  it  that  the  original  promise 
meant  that  everyone  that  shall,  of  his  own  free  will  and 
out  of  devotion  to  Mary,  wear  the  scapular  at  the  hour 
of  death  shall  obtain  the  grace  of  contrition  at  the 
last.  ...  I  am  not  at  one  with  him  {i.e.  Father  Ryder) 
if  he  asserts  that  he  who  wears  the  scapular  out  of 
devotion  to  our  Lady  can  possibly  lose  his  soul.  In 
this  sense  I  most  certainly  regard  the  scapular  as  a 
sacramentum  CBternce  salutis.  If  to  believe  this  be 
superstitious,  I  willingly  accept  the  name." 


Romish  Doctrine  concerning  Purgatory    325 

If  the  Roman  Church  really  believes  that  our  Lady 
made  this  promise,  one  would  think  that  she  would 
insist  on  everyone  wearing  the  scapular,  since  that 
would  be  an  easy  way  of  securing  the  salvation  of 
the  world.  Only  by  some  miracle,  such  as  the  breaking 
of  the  strings  of  the  scapular  at  the  critical  moment, 
could  anyone  then  be  lost.  The  use  of  the  scapular 
would  relieve  men  of  the  need  of  the  Sacraments,  and 
of  all  trouble  as  to  the  ten  commandments.  A  little 
devotion  to  Mary,  such  as  is  not  uncommonly  found 
among  the  brigands  of  Sicily,  would  be  all  that  anyone 
need  trouble  about  as  far  as  eternal  salvation  is 
concerned.  Nor  need  there  be  any  further  trouble 
or  thought  for  the  souls  in  Purgatory,  since  all  who 
die  wearing  the  scapular  are  promised  deliverance  from 
Purgatory  on  the  Saturday  after  their  death.  But  how 
does  this  accord  with  the  anniversary  Masses,  and  the 
thirty  Masses  on  consecutive  days  after  a  death  ? 

There  are  other  ways  in  which  the  Blessed  Virgin 
exercises  her  control  over  the  nether  world.  Accord- 
ing to  approved  stories  she  descends  into  Purgatory 
on  certain  of  her  Festivals  and  takes  out  whom 
she  will,  the  preference  being  shown  to  those  who 
were  devout  to  her  when  they  were  on  earth.  It 
does  not  seem  to  strike  the  people  who  circulate  these 
legends  that  they  represent  our  Lady  in  an  odious 
light.  They  imply  that  she  is  flattered  by  little 
attentions,  which  she  rewards  by  deliverance  from 
Purgatory,  while   those  who  have   neglected    to   show 


326  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

devotion  to  her  are  abandoned  to  the  flames.  If  the 
Blessed  Virgin  can  help  souls  in  the  next  world,  we 
have  no  sort  of  doubt  that  she  will  do  so  on  other 
occasions  than  her  own  Feasts,  and  will  have  some 
consideration  for  those  who  loved  and  obeyed  her  Son 
as  well  as  for  those  who  showed  devotion  to  herself. 

We  have  now  briefly  touched  upon  the  Romish  doc- 
trine concerning  Purgatory,  and  distinguished  it  from 
the  Roman  dogmatic  decisions  put  forth  at  the  Councils 
of  Florence  and  Trent.  The  dogmatic  decrees  may 
need  a  certain  amount  of  explanation  before  they  could 
be  accepted  by  the  Eastern  and  Anglican  communions, 
but  the  Romish  doctrine  cannot  be  explained  or  har- 
monised with  the  faith  of  the  Gospel,  or  the  belief  of  the 
whole  Church  for  more  than  a  thousand  years.  It  is  well 
described  by  the  words  of  our  Article  as  "a  fond  thing 
vainly  invented,  and  grounded  upon  no  warranty  of 
Scripture,  but  rather  repugnant  to  the  Word  of  God.''^ 

^  Cardinal  Vaughan,  when  Bishop  of  Salford,  published  among  his 
"penny  books  for  the  people"  one  called  The  Meaning  and  Use  of  the 
Scapula}'  of  Our  Lady  of  Mount  Carmel ;  in  this  he  earnestly  persuades 
the  people  to  join  the  confraternity.  He  says  (p.  4)  the  scapular  is  a  "purely 
voluntary  devotion,  resting  on  a  pious  belief,"  the  reasonable  evidence 
for  which  has  been  fully  attested.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  Catholic  Diction- 
ary proves  that  it  rests  on  imposture  only.  Cardinal  Vaughan  says  : 
"No  confraternity  has  ever  received  a  greater  number  of  approbations 
from  the  Sovereign  Pontiffs  than  this  of  the  scapular.  Nineteen  popes 
have  confirmed  and  approved  it  by  publishing  some  forty  Bulls  and 
Rescripts  in  its  favour."  On  page  19  we  are  told  that  plenary  indulgences 
can  be  gained  seventy-six  times  each  year,  while  partial  indulgences  for 
seven,  five,  and  three  years  are  to  be  had  for  next  to  nothing  in  the  way 
of  "devotion."  It  is  hardly  to  be  wondered  at,  after  the  exposure  of  the 
scapular  by  learned  Romanists,  that  some  "Liberal  Catholics"  doubt 
the  wisdom  of  the  guidance  given  them  by  the  Popes. 


XVI. 

HnQlican  ^eacbing 


"  What  has  been  said  of  mediaeval  authority  is  at  least  as  true 
of  the  authority  of  the  Reformation  theology,  and  of  the  special 
type  of  Reformation  theology  which  was  characteristic  of  the 
English  Church.  It  cannot  be  taken  by  itself  as  constituting  our 
standard  or  court  of  appeal." — The  Body  of  Christ.     Dr.  GORE. 


XVI. 

Hngltcan  XLcacUm 

THE  appeal  of  the  Church  of  England  when  she 
reformed  herself  in  the  fifteenth  century  was  to 
Holy  Scripture  interpreted  by  the  primitive  Church. 
In  her  Article  VI.  she  maintains :  "  Holy  Scripture 
containeth  all  things  necessary  to  salvation,  so  that 
whatsoever  is  not  read  therein,  nor  may  be  proved 
thereby,  is  not  to  be  required  of  any  man,  that  it 
should  be  believed  as  an  Article  of  the  Faith,  or  be 
thought  requisite  or  necessary  to  salvation."  Some 
mediaeval  doctrines  she  rejects  because  they  are 
"grounded  upon  no  warranty  of  Scripture,  but  rather 
repugnant  to  the  Word  of  God."  She  asserts  that 
the  Church  may  not  "ordain  anything  contrary  to 
God's  Word  written,"  or,  "so  expound  one  place  of 
Scripture  that  it  be  repugnant  to  another."  And  again, 
as  the  Church  "  ought  not  to  decree  anything  against 
the  same,  so  beside  the  same  ought  it  not  to  enforce 
anything  to  be  believed  for  necessity  of  salvation." 
The  Book  of  Common  Prayer  as  it  first  stood  (in 
1549  and  1552)  is  defended  on  the  ground  that  it  did 

not  "contain   in  it  anything  contrary  to  the  Word  of 

329 


^2>0         The  Soul  in  the  Unseen   World 

God,  or  to  sound  doctrine,"  and  in  the  Canon  addressed 
to  preachers,  issued  by  the  Bishops  in  the  Convocation 
of  1 57 1,  which  first  imposed  on  the  clergy  subscription 
to  the  Articles,  we  are  told  :  "  Before  all  else  they  shall 
see  to  it  that  they  never  teach  anything  in  a  sermon 
which  they  wish  to  be  religiously  held  and  believed 
by  the  people,  except  what  is  agreeable  to  the  doctrine 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  and  what  the  Catholic 
Fathers  and  ancient  Bishops  collected  out  of  that 
very  doctrine."  Once  more,  at  the  solemn  moment  of 
their  ordination  all  priests  are  obliged  to  confess  that 
they  are  persuaded  that  the  holy  Scriptures  "  con- 
tain sufficiently  all  doctrine  required  of  necessity  for 
eternal  salvation  through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus,"  and 
that  they  are  "determined  out  of  the  said  holy 
Scriptures  to  instruct  the  people,  and  to  teach  or 
maintain  nothing  as  required  of  necessity  to  eternal 
salvation  but  that  which  they  are  persuaded  may  be 
concluded  and  proved  by  the  Scriptures."  We  notice 
the  careful  and  repeated  limitation,  "as  required  of 
necessity  to  eternal  salvation,"  words  that  permit  some 
opinions  to  be  put  forward  as  such,  if  they  be  not 
insisted  upon  as  part  of  the  faith  of  Christ.  The 
appeal  to  Holy  Scripture  does  not,  of  course,  mean 
that  every  man  is  free  to  reject  the  common  consent 
of  the  Church  as  to  its  interpretation,  for  the  Church 
of  England  in  her  Canons  of  1603  has  expressly 
declared  that,  "Whosoever  shall  hereafter  affirm,  That 
the  form  of  God's  worship  in  the  Church  of  England, 


Anglican   Teaching  331 

established  by  law,  and  contained  in  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer  and  Administration  of  the  Sacraments, 
is  a  corrupt,  superstitious,  or  unlawful  worship  of  God, 
or  containeth  anything  in  it  that  is  repugnant  to  the 
Scriptures ;  let  him  be  excommunicated  ipso  facto,  and 
not  restored  but  by  the  Bishop  of  the  place,  or  i\rch- 
bishop,  after  his  repentance  and  public  revocation  of 
such  his  wicked  errors."^  Hence,  in  Article  XX.  it 
is  said  that  the  Church  is  "  a  witness  and  keeper  of 
Holy  Writ,"  and  in  Article  XXXIV.,  that,  "Whosoever 
through  his  private  judgment  doth  openly  break  the 
traditions  and  ceremonies  of  the  Church,  which  be  not 
repugnant  to  the  Word  of  God,  and  be  ordained  and 
approved  by  common  authority,  ought  to  be  rebuked 
openly  (that  others  may  fear  to  do  the  like),  as  he  that 
offendeth  against  the  common  order  of  the  Church.  .  .  ." 
Once  more  the  authority  of  the  primitive  Church  is 
referred  to  when  it  is  said  that,  "It  is  a  thing  plainly 
repugnant  to  the  Word  of  God,  and  the  custom  of  the 
primitive  Church,  to  have  public  prayer  in  the  Church, 
or  to  minister  the  Sacraments  in  a  tongue  not  under- 
standed  of  the  people."  ^ 

The  idea  in  these  and  many  other  passages  is 
evidently  that,  while  the  Church  ought  not  to  require 
anything  that  is  repugnant  to  Holy  Writ  to  be  believed 
as  necessary  to  salvation,  each  man  should  submit 
himself   to  the  order,  teaching,  and  discipline  of   the 

^  Canon  iv.  '-  ^^^^  y^yXw 


^^2  The  Soul  i?i  the   Unseen  World 

portion  of  the  Church  in  which  he  Hves.^  Otherwise 
every  separate  man  would  be  constituted  a  critic,  and 
there  would  be  an  end  to  all  common  belief  and 
action,  since  doctrines  that  appear  to  most  men  to 
be  plainly  taught  in  God's  Word  are  denied  by  other 
men  to  be  in  accord  with  the  divine  Scriptures.  Thus 
the  whole  Church  out  of  the  Scriptures  has  gathered 
the  necessity  of  the  Sacraments — where  they  may  be 
had ;  but  the  Sacraments  are  rejected  by  the  Quakers 
and  other  sects  as  repugnant  to  the  Word  of  God. 
The  responsibility  therefore  rests  with  the  Church, 
and  though  one  portion  of  the  Church  believes  another 
portion  to  go  beyond  and  teach  contrary  to  God's 
Word,  yet  must  each  man  submit  his  judgment  to 
that  portion  whereunto  he  belongeth. 

That  the  position  taken  up  by  the  Church  of  England 
towards  Holy  Scripture  is  the  same  as  that  which  was 
adopted  by  the  primitive  Church,  is  easily  shown  from 
the  writings  of  the  great  Fathers.  Dr.  Pusey's  words  may 
well  be  borne  in  mind,  that  it  is  no  "undue  limitation  of 
the  authority  of  the  Church  to  lay  down  another  limit, 
that  the  Church  may  not  require  'as  necessary  to  salva- 
tion' what  is  not  read  in  Holy  Scripture  or  may  be 
proved  by  it.  This  only  implies  the  historical  fact  that 
the  same  body  of  saving  truths  which  the  Apostles  first 
preached  orally,  they  afterwards,  under  the  inspiration 
of  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  wrote  in  the  holy  Scriptures, 

^  In  the  Church  of  England  we  are  referred  to  the  primitive  Church, 
not  to  the  writings  of  **  the  Reformers." 


■^  '> 


Anglicmi   Teaching  -x^Z 

God  ordering  in  His  providence  that,  in  the  unsystematic 
teaching  of  Holy  Scripture,  all  should  be  embodied 
which  is  essential  to  establish  the  faith.  This  is  said 
over  and  over  again  by  the  Fathers.  This  limitation 
of  the  power  of  the  Church  does  not  set  individuals 
free  to  criticise,  on  their  private  judgments,  what  the 
whole  Church  has  decided."  It  may  be  superfluous  to 
say  the  Church  must  not  contradict  or  add  to  the  Faith, 
for  we  know  that  she  will,  as  a  whole,  never  do  so,  since 
she  is  "the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth"; ^  but  by 
the  Church  we  often  mean  a  portion  of  the  Church,  and 
the  Church  of  England  certainly  supposes  that  the 
Church  of  Rome  teaches  things  to  be  a  part  of  the 
faith,  and  thus  essential  to  salvation,  which  formed  no 
part  of  the  original  deposit.  Among  such  doctrines 
are,  for  example,  the  dogma  of  the  Infallibility  of  the 
Bishop  of  Rome,  and  the  Immaculate  Conception  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  both  of  which  we  hold  to  be  not 
only  not  contained  in  Holy  Writ,  but  rather  to  be 
repugnant  to  that  which  is  therein  contained. 

In  applying  what  has  been  said  to  the  doctrine 
concerning  the  intermediate  state,  we  find  that  the 
Church  of  England  rejected  at  the  Reformation  some 
points  of  belief  that  she  had  until  then  held  in  common 
with  the  rest  of  the  Western  Church,  and  that  she  was 
guided  in  what  she  rejected  as  well  as  in  what  she 
retained  by  this  principle  of  appeal  to  Holy  Scripture 
as  interpreted  by  the  Fathers  of  the  primitive  Church. 

^  I  Tim.  iii.  15. 


334  ^^^^  ^oid  in  the  Unseen   World 

The  plain  teaching  in  Holy  Scripture  as  to  the 
intermediate  state  is  but  scanty.  What  there  is  cannot 
be  reconciled  with  the  Romish  doctrine  concerning  Pur- 
gatory. St.  Thomas  Aquinas  confesses  that  Scripture 
determines  nothing  as  to  the  whereabouts  of  Purgatory, 
and  he  might  also  have  said  Scripture  is  equally  silent 
as  to  the  Romish  doctrine  concerning  Purgatory,  which 
teaches  that  the  souls  of  the  righteous  are  tormented 
in  the  next  world  in  order  to  appease  the  wrath  of  God 
and  to  pay  a  debt  to  His  justice.  The  few  undoubted 
references  in  Holy  Writ  to  the  life  of  the  righteous 
after  death  are  suggestive  of  peace  and  rest,  while  of 
those  who  are  not  spoken  of  as  righteous,  but  for  whom 
there  may  be  hope  of  final  salvation,  little  or  nothing 
is  clearly  revealed,  and  our  hope  can  only  be  based  on 
what  we  believe  to  be  the  revealed  general  principles 
that  regulate  God's  dealings  with  sinners  who  have  not 
wholly  and  finally  rejected  His  grace. 

We  have  already  dealt  with  some  of  the  plain  state- 
ments of  God's  written  Word,  and  we  have  seen  what 
the  primitive  Church  gathered  from  them  as  to  the  in- 
termediate state.  If  she  knew  nothing  of  a  Purgatory 
of  torment  for  the  righteous,  neither  did  she  know 
anything  of  a  state  after  death  that  rendered  prayer 
for  the  departed  useless.  Her  confident  belief  was 
that  those  who  had  striven  to  love  and  serve  God 
here  on  earth  were  after  death  speedily,  if  not  at  once, 
admitted  into  the  joy  of  their  Lord.  They  were 
thought  of  as  they  who  "  rest  from  their  labours,"  who 


Anglican   Teaching  335 

are  "  in  peace "  and  "  with  Christ."  Of  such  it  had 
been  said,  "  The  souls  of  the  righteous  are  in  the  hand 
of  God,  and  there  shall  no  torment  touch  them.  In 
the  sight  of  the  unwise  they  seemed  to  die :  and  their 
departure  is  taken  for  misery,  and  their  going  from  us 
to  be  utter  destruction,  but  they  are  in  peace."  ^ 

For  those  who  had  lived  carelessly  and  died  with  but 
few  signs  of  conversion  to  God,  or  who  had  not  been 
able  to  prove  the  reality  of  their  conversion  by  bringing 
forth  worthy  fruits  of  penance,  the  primitive  Church  did 
not  forbid  men  to  entertain  a  hope  that  in  the  great  and 
terrible  day  of  judgment,  if  not  before,  such  might  find 
mercy  and  be  saved,  yet  "  so  as  by  fire."^  Where  such 
souls  were  detained  and  perfected  the  primitive  Church 
knew  not.  As  they  were  not  with  Christ  in  Heaven — 
where  alone  Christ  is  in  His  Humanity — then  they 
were  necessarily  "outside  the  Palace."  It  might  be  that 
the  door  of  opportunity  would  not  be  found  shut 
against  any  until  the  end — until  the  close  of  the 
mediatorial  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ,  until  time  had 
ceased  and  eternity  begun.  Meanwhile  such  souls, 
in  so  great  peril,  were  to  be  the  object  of  the  fervent 
prayers  of  the  Church. 

On  the  whole,  then,  the  primitive  Church  associated 
the  thought  of  the  faithful  departed — those  who,  after 
serving  God  here,  had  died  "  in  the  Lord  " — with  the 
light,  joy,  peace,  and  rest  of  the  Paradise  of  God.^ 
Thither  she  turned  her  gaze,  and  towards  that  heavenly 
1  Wisdom  iii,  1-3.  ^  l  Cor,  iii,  15,  ^  pp.  182-4. 


^^6         The  Soul  in  the   Unseen  World 

country  she  taught  her  children  to  hasten.  For  the 
spirits  of  these  just  ones  made  perfect  she  did  not, 
however,  hesitate  to  pray,  that  they  might  have  an  in- 
crease of  what  they  already  essentially  possessed,  and 
a  joyful  resurrection.^ 

We  have  now  to  consider  how  far  this  primitive  faith 
and  hope  is  expressed  in  the  teaching  and  formularies 
of  the  Anglican  communion,  and  what  may  lawfully 
be  held  by  those  who  are  neither  Greek  Catholics  nor 
Roman  Catholics,  but  English  Catholics. 

We  must  at  the  outset  remember  that  the  present 
teaching  of  the  Church  of  England  is  a  departure 
from  what  she  once  held  in  the  middle  ages,  and 
claims  to  be  a  return  to  the  faith  of  the  Gospel  as 
understood  and  taught  in  the  purest  ages  of  the 
undivided  Church.  We  have  therefore  to  notice  what 
she  has  rejected  as  well  as  what  she  has  retained. 
At  the  root  of  the  Romish  doctrine  concerning  Pur- 
gatory is  the  belief  in  the  temporal  punishment  due 
to  sin — a  temporal  punishment  which  is  not  merely  the 
evil  consequences  of  sin  that  often  have  to  be  endured 
in  this  life  by  the  penitent,  and  may  follow  him  into  the 
next  world,  but  a  temporal  punishment  exacted  by 
the  justice  of  God  as  a  debt  due  to  Himself,  and 
which,  if  not  paid  off  here  on  earth,  must  be  paid  by 

^  As  it  is  often  argued  that  because  the  primitive  Church  prayed  for 
the  departed  she  must  have  thought  they  were  in  torment,  we  may  re- 
member that  some  theologians  teach  that  the  "accidental  glory"  of 
those  in  Heaven  is  increased,  and  '* fresh  joy"  granted  to  them,  through, 
the  suffrages  of  those  on  earth. 


Anglican   Teaching  337 

enduring  tortures  in  Purgatory.  Every  mortal  sin 
carries  with  it — according  to  Roman  theology — two 
consequences,  pain  and  guilt.  When  the  sinner  is 
penitent  and  absolved,  the  guilt  and  its  eternal  punish- 
ment are  remitted,  but  a  temporal  punishment  is  said 
to  be  still  due  to  the  justice  of  God.  In  the  case  of 
venial  sin  the  guilt  is  much  less  than  that  attaching 
to  mortal  sin  ;  it  does  not  destroy  the  grace  of  God 
in  the  soul,  and  carries  with  it  no  eternal  punishment, 
but  only  a  temporal  punishment.^  Supposing,  therefore, 
that  a  man  dies  truly  penitent  and  in  the  love  of  God, 
there  yet  remains  to  be  done  away  any  guilt  of  venial 
sin  not  already  removed,  and  all  the  debt  of  temporal 
punishment  due  to  God's  justice  for  mortal  and  venial 
sin  which  has  not  been  paid  off  here  on  earth.  In 
Purgatory  the  soul  cannot  merit,  and  therefore  it  can 
only  pay  this  debt  by  suffering  tortures.  These  tortures 
are  satisfactions  to  the  justice  of  God,  and  pay  off  the 
debt.  The  debt  is  also  able  to  be  paid  off  by  those 
on  earth  who  gain  indulgences  and  offer  prayers  and 
Masses  for  the  souls  in  Purgatory.  According  to  this 
Romish  doctrine,  a  soul  perfectly  holy  and  free  from 
all  stains  and  guilt,  and  thus  ready  for  Heaven,  may 
have  to  endure  fearful  torments  in  Purgatory  for 
centuries,  simply  because  the  debt  of  temporal  punish- 
ment is  not  paid  to  God.^ 

Now  this  doctrine,  that  our  sufferings  here  or  here- 

^  Siimma  Theo.  1-2.    Ixxxvii.  v.,  and  pars.  iii.  Ixxxvi.  iv, 
■^  See  note  p.  348, 
Z 


7^2,^  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

after  are  in  themselves  a  satisfaction  to  the  justice 
of  God,  is  one  of  the  doctrines  most  emphatically 
rejected  by  the  Anglican  communion.  It  is  true  that 
the  Fathers  often  speak  of  "satisfying  God,"  and  of 
works  of  "satisfaction,"  especially  prayer,  fasting,  and 
almsgiving,  but  it  is  abundantly  clear  that  they  meant 
simply  that  by  these  works  men  prove  their  repentance 
to  be  real,  and  so  satisfy  the  demand  which  God  makes 
of  repentance  as  a  condition  of  the  pardon  of  sin. 
As  Hooker  says :  "  Repentance  is  a  name  which  noteth 
the  habit  and  operation  of  a  certain  grace  or  virtue  in 
us;  Satisfaction,  the  effect  which  it  hath,  either  with  God 
or  man."i  Satisfaction  in  this  true  and  scriptural  sense  is 
the  voluntary  bringing  forth  of  the  "  fruits  of  repentance,' 
and  by  no  means  the  involuntary  bearing  of  tortures 
by  those  who  are  not  only  truly  penitent,  but  wholly 
sanctified.  As  St.  Augustine  says  :  "  What  God  hath 
covered  He  will  not  observe,  and  what  He  observeth 
not  He  will  not  punish."  That  there  is  a  varying 
degree  of  guilt  and  punishment  attaching  to  all  sin 
the  Church  quite  allows,  but  what  she  asserts  is  that 
the  remission  of  this  pain,  in  so  far  as  it  is  a  debt  due 
to  the  justice  of  God,  and  the  remission  of  the  guilt, 
have  been  purchased  once  for  all  by  the  infinite  merits 
of  Jesus  Christ.  He  alone,  as  being  God  and  Man, 
could  pay  a  debt  due  from  man  to  God. 

Hooker   well   says :    "  God,  how   highly   soever   dis- 
pleased and  incensed  with  our  sins,  is  notwithstanding, 

^  Eccles,  Polity^  Book  vi.  sect.  5. 


Anglican    Teaching  339 

for  His  sake  (Jesus  Christ's),  by  our  tears  pacified, 
taking  that  for  satisfaction  which  is  due  by  us,  because 
Christ  has  by  His  Satisfaction  made  it  acceptable."^ 
This  is  the  principle  insisted  upon  in  Article  XXXI., 
which  asserts  that :  "  The  offering  of  Christ  once  made 
is  that  perfect  redemption,  propitiation,  and  satisfaction, 
for  all  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,  both  original  and 
actual;  and  there  is  none  other  satisfaction  for  sin  but  that 
alone.  Wherefore  the  sacrifices  of  Masses,  in  the  which 
it  was  commonly  said,  that  the  Priest  did  offer  Christ  for 
the  quick  and  the  dead,  to  have  remission  of  pain  or  guilt , 
were  blasphemous  fables,  and  dangerous  deceits."  ^  It 
is  true  that  the  Article  also  condemns  a  once  prevalent 
belief  that  our  Lord  died  to  satisfy  only  for  original 
sin,  and  left  the  Mass  to  satisfy  for  the  actual  sins 
of  men,  but  the  main  protest  is  against  the  idea  that 
the  Mass  is  any  other  satisfaction  than  that  which 
was  once  offered  on  Calvary.  It  is  then  untrue  that 
torments  endured  here  or  hereafter  are  in  themselves 
satisfactions  made  to  the  "justice  of  God,"  but  it  is 
exactly  on  this  belief  that  the  Romish  doctrine  con- 
cerning Purgatory  is  built. 

The  difficulty  as  to  how  the  souls  in  Purgatory  can 
be  said  to  make  satisfaction  when  they  are  no  longer 

^  Eccles.  Polity^  Book  vi.  sect.  5. 

^  The  learned  Roman  Catholic  theologian  known  as  Sancta  Clara,  in 
his  comments  on  this  Article,  says:  "The  commencement,  so  far  as  it  is 
affirmative,  is  indubitably  true — indubitata  est"  and  shows  that  the  latter 
part  is  aimed  at  a  popular  opinion  and  that  "  nothing  is  said  against 
ike  Mass  itself- — nihil  agitur  contra  Sacrificia  Missa  in  se. " 


340         The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

able  to  merit  has  led  the  Romish  theologians  to  teach 
that  these  souls  do  not,  strictly  speaking,  satisfy 
God  by  what  they  do,  but  they  satisfy  by  what  they 
suffer.  Schouppe  writes  that  "  Purgatory  is  a  place 
in  which  the  souls  of  the  faithful,  liable  for  temporal 
punishment,  '  satisfy  by  suffering '  {satispatiuntur).  It 
is  said  'satisfy  by  suffering'  because  these  souls  are 
no  longer  wayfarers  here  on  earth,  and  as  they  can- 
not merit,  so  neither  can  they,  properly  speaking, 
satisfy  for  their  debt  of  punishment ;  but  they  satisfy 
in  punishment,  and  pay  off  the  penalty  due,  in  this 
way,  that  except  by  suffering  what  is  sufficient  they 
cannot  help  themselves  or  be  freed  from  punish- 
ment." 

Now  it  was  more  especially  to  pay  a  debt  we  could 
not  pay,  and  to  save  us  from  its  penalty,  that  our  Lord 
offered  His  Passion  for  us.  He  did  not  take  away  the 
need  of  our  repentance,  but  from  the  penitent  who  has 
passed  into  the  other  world  He  surely  requires  no  pay- 
ment to  be  made  to  His  justice  by  the  endurance  of 
merely  penal  tortures  ?  The  belief  in  the  absolute  effi- 
cacy of  the  Cross  is  so  important  that  the  Church  of 
England  insists  upon  it  each  time  the  Eucharist  is  cele- 
brated, when,  in  the  prayer  of  Consecration,  she  asserts 
that  Jesus  Christ  on  the  Cross  "  made  there  (by  His  one 
oblation  of  Himself  once  offered)  a  full,  perfect,  and  suf- 
ficient sacrifice,  oblation,  and  satisfaction  for  the  sins  of 
the  whole  world."  That  some  sins  do  bring  a  visible 
and  temporal  punishment  with  them  none,  of  course, 


Anglican   Teaching  341 

deny.  God  does  not  interfere  to  hinder  this  punish- 
ment from  overtaking  even  those  who  are  truly  penitent. 
The  ruined  health  of  one  who  has  been  intemperate  is 
a  temporal  punishment — not  arbitrarily  inflicted,  but 
not  miraculously  hindered — that  pursues  even  the  truly 
repentant  sinner.  The  loss  of  character,  the  pain  of 
seeing  others  suffer  through  one's  own  sins  and  follies, 
all  these  and  other  temporal  penalties  are  allowed  by 
God  for  the  warning  of  others  and  the  hindrance  of 
further  relapse.  But  such  temporal  punishments  are  not, 
strictly  speaking,  satisfactions  to  God,  nor  do  they  pay 
any  debt  due  from  the  sinner  to  Him.  In  the  super- 
natural order,  all  such  pains  and  debts  have  been  paid 
by  the  Sinless  Redeemer,  Who  was  "  wounded  for  our 
transgressions,"  and  "  bruised  for  our  iniquities :  the 
chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon  Him ;  and  with 
His  stripes  we  are  healed."  On  Him  the  Lord  hath 
laid  "  the  iniquity  of  us  all."  ^  That  works  of  penance 
are  not  undervalued  by  the  Church  of  England  may 
be  plainly  seen  from  the  Commination  Service,  where 
she  praises  the  "  godly  discipline "  of  the  primitive 
Church,  and  says  that  its  restoration  is  "  much  to 
be  wished" — from  her  observance  of  vigils,  fasts  and 
days  of  abstinence,  the  inculcation  of  almsgiving,  and 
the  like.  But  all  such  fruits  of  penitence  are  to  teach 
us  to  endure  hardness  as  good  soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ, 
or  to  subdue  the  flesh  to  the  spirit,  or  to  enable  us 
to  correct  or  amend  our  life  so  that  our  "  faith  may 

^  Isa.  liii.  5,6. 


•7 


42  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen   World 


be  found  in  the  day  of  the  Lord  laudable,  glorious,  and 
honourable,  to  the  increase  of  glory  and  endless  felicity." 
Afflictions  that  are  supposed  to  be  sent  directly  from 
God,  rather  than  to  result  from  our  own  and  other 
people's  evil-doing,  are  to  be  looked  upon  as  sent  or 
permitted  for  our  correction ;  we  are  urged  to  bear 
"patiently,  and  with  thanksgiving  our  heavenly  Father's 
correction,  whensoever  by  any  manner  of  adversity  it 
shall  please  His  gracious  goodness  to  visit  us."  The 
exhortation  in  the  Visitation  of  the  Sick  gives  the 
true  attitude  of  the  Christian  towards  involuntary 
suffering.  It  tells  us  that  "  there  should  be  no 
greater  comfort  to  Christian  persons,  than  to  be  made 
like  unto  Christ,  by  suffering  patiently  adversities, 
troubles,  and  sicknesses.  For  He  Himself  went  not 
up  to  joy,  but  first  He  suffered  pain  ;  He  entered  not 
into  His  glory  before  He  was  crucified.  So  truly  our 
way  to  eternal  joy  is  to  suffer  here  with  Christ ;  and 
our  door  to  enter  into  eternal  life  is  gladly  to  die 
with  Christ ;  that  we  may  rise  again  from  death,  and 
dwell  with  Him  in  everlasting  life."  In  Holy  Scripture 
we  read  sometimes  that  God  afflicts — or  allows  affliction 
to  fall  on — His  people  for  some  good  purpose,  but 
never  with  the  object  of  enabling  them  to  "  satisfy  His 
justice "  by  enduring  punishments  that  are  neither 
corrective,  remedial,  nor  exemplary.  The  Church  of 
England  has  therefore  rejected  the  doctrine  that  the 
justice  of  God  demands  for  every  forgiven  sin  an  arbi- 
trary, quantitative,  temporal   punishment,  which  must 


Anglican   Teaching  343 

be  paid  either  here  or  hereafter  by  suffering  pain.  She 
teaches  that  whatever  satisfaction  was  due  to  the  justice 
of  God  has  been  paid  by  Jesus  Christ.  Hooker's 
words  are  well  worth  quoting :  "  They  \i.e.  Ramish 
theologians]  imagine,  beyond  all  conceit  of  antiquity, 
that  when  God  doth  remit  sin  and  the  punishment 
eternal  thereunto  belonging,  He  reserveth  the  torments 
of  hell-fire  to  be  nevertheless  endured  for  a  time, 
either  shofter  or  longer,  according  to  the  quantity  of 
men's  crimes.  ...  If  a  penitent  depart  this  life,  the 
debt  of  satisfaction  being  either  in  whole  or  in  part 
undischarged,  they  steadfastly  hold  that  the  soul  must 
remain  in  unspeakable  torments  till  all  be  paid ;  there- 
fore, for  help  and  mitigation  in  this  case  they  advise 
men  to  set  certain  copesmates  on  work,  whose  prayers 
and  sacrifices  may  satisfy  God  for  such  souls  as  depart 
in  debt.  Hence  have  arisen  the  infinite  pensions  of 
their  priests,  the  building  of  so  many  altars  and 
tombs  .  .  ."  Speaking  of  the  Romish  theory  of  a 
"  treasury  of  merit,"  he  says,  "  By  this  postern-gate 
Cometh  in  the  whole  merit  of  Papal  indulgences ;  a 
gain  inestimable  unto  him,  to  others  a  spoil,  a  scorn 
both  to  God  and  man." 

We  have  now  to  consider  what  is  clearly  taught  by 
the  Anglican  formularies  (i)  as  to  the  state  of  the 
perfected  souls  of  the  righteous,  then  (2)  as  to  the 
imperfect,  and  lastly  (3)  as  to  suffrages  for  the  departed. 

(i)  The  Church  of  England  does  not,  any  more  than 
the   Eastern    or   Roman    Churches,  take   upon    herself 


344  ^'^^  SotU  in  the  Unseen  World 

to  decide  in  any  individual  case  what  is  the  condition 
of  the  soul  at  the  moment  of  death.     She  has  for  some 
an  almost   certain  confidence  that  thev  have  died  in 
the  grace  of  God,  and   are  far  advanced   in   the  way 
of  holiness.     All  she  can  definitely  assert  is  that  if — 
and  God  alone  knows — a  soul  passes  out  of  this  world 
free  from   all  stain  of  sin  and  perfectly  conformed  to 
the  likeness  of  Christ,  then  such  a  soul  is  admitted  into 
Heaven.     In  both  the  Order  for  the  Burial  of  the  Dead, 
and  in  the  Visitation  of  the  Sick,  the  Church  addresses 
Almighty  God  as  He  "  with  Whom  do  live  the  spirits 
of  just  men  made  perfect,  after  they  are  delivered  from 
their  earthly   prisons";    she  prays  that  the   soul    may 
be   received   "  into    those   heavenly   habitations,   where 
the  souls  of  them  that  sleep  in  the  Lord  Jesus  enjoy 
perpetual    rest   and    felicity " ;    and    again,    for   a   sick 
person  she  asks  of  God  that  "  after  his  departure  hence 
in  peace,  and  in  Thy  favour,  his  soul  may  be  received 
into    Thine    everlasting    kingdom."     For    these    souls 
already  in   "joy  and   felicity,"  the   Church   prays  that 
they  may  have  their  "  perfect  consummation  and  bliss, 
both  in  body  and  soul,  in  Thy  eternal  and  everlasting 
glory."     From  this  it  is  perfectly  clear  that  the  Church 
of    England    agrees    with    the    Eastern    and    Roman 
communions   as   to   the   state   of    the   "  spirits  of   just 
men  made  perfect "  before  the  resurrection.     They  are 
with    Christ,  and    await   only   the   further   increase    of 
glory   which   the    perfected    spirit   receives  when    it  is 
"  clothed  upon "  with   the  glorified   and  spiritual   body 


Anglican   Teaching  345 

in  the  resurrection.  The  spirit  is  perfect  from  the 
moment  it  enters  Heaven,  but  the  spirit  must  be 
clothed  with  the  body  before  the  whole  man  attains 
the  end  for  which  he  was  created.  For  this  teaching 
we  have  the  most  certain  warrants  in  God's  Word. 

(2)  As  to  the  condition  of  those  who  have  departed 
capable  of  salvation  and  yet  by  no  means  perfect,  the 
Church  of  England  has  little,  if  anything,  to  tell  us. 
However  unsatisfying  this  may  be  to  our  curiosity, 
it  must  be  confessed  that  Holy  Scripture  tells  us 
but  little,  and  the  Church  can,  therefore,  hardly  tell 
us  more.  There  are,  however,  certain  clear  principles 
laid  down  in  the  holy  Scriptures  which  seem  to 
regulate  God's  dealings  with  penitent  sinners.  He 
receives  all  who  return  to  Him,  and  fully  and  freely 
forgives  them  the  guilt  of  their  sin ;  He  inflicts  no 
vindictive  pains  upon  those  He  has  thus  welcomed, 
but  He  does  not  miraculously  eradicate  all  the  effects 
of  long-continued  evil  habits,  or  impart  in  a  moment 
the  full  beauty  of  holiness ;  the  abundant  and  manifold 
fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  usually  the  reward  of  long- 
continued  cultivation  of  the  garden  of  the  soul. 

In  this  life  perfection  is  not  attained  suddenly ;  a 
man  must  learn  to  bring  forth  fruit  with  patience,  by 
conflict  with  temptation,  and  by  striving  to  follow  the 
example  of  Christ  and  conform  the  soul  to  His  likeness. 
Now  all  this,  if  not  done  perfectly  at  the  moment  of 
death,  must  be  accomplished  after  the  soul  has  left  the 
body  or  not  at  all.     If  it  were  nevg5::=B«:fee4£d,  then  the 


34^  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

soul  could  never  enter  Heaven,  since  none  who  are  not 
Christlike  can  attain  their  reward,  which  is  to  be  "  with 
Christ."  Most  assuredly  God  will  not  quench  the  smoking 
flax  ;  rather,  as  the  Apostle  says,  "  He  which  hath  begun 
a  good  work  in  you  will  perform  it  until  the  day  of 
Jesus  Christ."  i  By  "  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ,"  or  "  the 
day  of  the  Lord,"  is  always  meant  the  day  of  final 
judgment. 

(3)  With  this  need  of  the  soul  in  mind  the  Church  of 
England  commits  the  departing  soul  to  God,  and  prays 
that  He  will  perfect  it.  She  -does  not  dogmatise,  but 
prays  that  the  soul  may  be  precious  in  God's  sight ; 
that  He  will  "wash  it  in  the  blood  of  that  Immaculate 
Lamb  that  was  slain  to  take  away  the  sins  of  the 
world ;  that  whatsoever  defilements  it  may  have 
contracted  in  the  midst  of  this  miserable  and  naughty 
world,  through  the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  or  the  wiles 
of  Satan,  being  purged  and  done  away,  it  may  be 
presented  pure  and  without  spot  before"  God.  The 
idea  is  that  the  soul  which  was  once  made  perfect  in 
Baptism,  may — now  that  it  is  passing  from  the  body — 
be  cleansed  from  all  defilement  and  restored  to  the 
state  from  whence  it  has  fallen,  and  so  once  again  be 
made  fit  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  But  whether  this 
restoration  is  accomplished  in  a  moment,  or  whether 
it  is  done — as  usually  here  on  earth — slowly  and  by 
degrees,  we  are  not  told.     Of  this  the  Church  of  Rome 

1  Phil.  i.  6. 


Anglican   Teaching  347 

can  know  no  more  than  the  Church  of  England ;  to 
decide  the  question  dogmatically  would  be  to  be  wise 
above  what  is  written.  There  is  room,  however,  for 
either  belief,  since  both  the  Scriptures  and  the  Fathers 
occasionally  speak  as  if  to  depart  hence  in  the  Lord 
is  at  once  to  pass  to  His  presence  and  His  joy,  and 
at  other  times  as  if  the  completion  of  the  good  work 
of  sanctification  might  be  long  delayed  and  not 
completed  "  until  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ."  Too 
much  stress  must  not  be  laid  upon  this  last  expression, 
as  if  it  necessarily  determined  the  lot  of  the  dis- 
embodied spirit ;  it  is  possible  that  St.  Paul  had  in 
mind  the  completion  of  the  redemption  of  the  whole 
man,  and  that  is  not  accomplished  in  any  case  until 
the  resurrection  of  the  body.  The  opinion  that  the 
soul  is  perfected  in  an  instant  at  death  has  been 
thought  possible  by  some  saints  and  theologians. 
St.  Macarius  certainly  held  this  opinion,  and  there 
are  more  modern  Western  theologians  who  have  taught 
"  that  souls  after  death  are  cleansed  from  the  stain 
of  their  venial  sin  by  turning  with  fervent  love  to  God, 
and  by  detestation  of  those  offences  which  marred, 
though  they  did  not  entirely  destroy,  their  union  with 
Him."  St.  Thomas  and  Suarez,  for  instance,  hold  that 
"  this  act  of  fervent  love  and  perfect  sorrow  is  made 
in  the  first  instant  of  the  soul's  separation  from  the 
body,  and  suffices  of  itself  to  remove  all  stain  of  sin." 
Hence,  except  for  what  they  call  the  temporal  punish- 
ment  due   to   the  justice   of  God,  some   even   of  the 


34^  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

Romish  theologians  would  allow  there  is  no  essential 
need  of  Purgatory.^ 

We  have  seen  that  the  idea  of  temporal  punishment, 
due  after  this  life  as  a  debt  to  the  justice  of  God,  is 
without  any  scriptural  justification,  so  that  even  if  the 
Anglican  Church  did  plainly  teach  that  the  soul  is 
perfected  instantly  at  death  there  would  be  nothing 
in  the  doctrine  at  variance  with  Holy  Scripture  or 
the  teaching  of  the  primitive  Church.  The  Roman 
theologians  themselves  do  not  teach  that  the  temporal 
punishment  perfects  or  improves  the  souls  in  Purgatory; 
it  is  merely  a  debt  for  which  they  are  detained,  and 
a  debt  which  can  only  be  paid  off  by  suffering. 

From  the  language  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer, 
and  from  the  statement  in  the  Homilies  that  "  the 
Scripture  doth  acknowledge  but  two  places  after  this 
life — the  one  proper  to  the  elect  and  blessed  of  God, 
and  the  other  to  the  reprobate  and  damned  souls," 
followed  by  the  exhortation,  "  Let   us   think   that  the 

^  Dr.  Mortimer,  in  his  Catholic  Faith  and  Practice^  has  given  the 
following  summary  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Roman  theologians.  lie 
says  they  teach  that  "the  remains  or  stains  of  sin  which  are  removed 
in  Purgatory  have  been  thought  to  be  of  three  kinds.  First  :  venial 
sins  which  have  not  been  remitted  in  this  life,  and  these,  according  to 
St.  Thomas  and  Suarez,  are  completely  removed  by  a  perfect  act  of  love 
and  contrition,  made  in  the  first  moment  after  death.  Second :  evil 
habits  which  are  likewise  expelled  immediately  after  death  by  acts  of 
the  opposite  virtues.  Third  :  temporal  punishment,  which  cannot  be 
removed  by  meriting,  or  satisfying  the  justice  of  God,  since  the  time 
of  merit  has  now  passed  ;  but  by  endurance,  or  by  the  suffrages  of  the 
faithful  on  earth."  One  sees  from  this  how  useless  a  torment  is  that 
supposed  to  be  inflicted  in  Purgatory,  and  consequently  how  the  Romish 
doctrine  concerning  Purgatory  is  a  "fond  thing,"  etc. 


Anglican   Teaching  349 

soul  of  man  passing  out  of  the  body  goeth  straightway 
either  to  heaven  or  hell "  ^ — it  seems  most  probable 
that  the  compilers  of  our  Prayer-book  held  that  the 
souls  of  the  departed  were  perfected  in  an  instant 
at  death.  How  very  near  to  this  belief  the  more 
learned  Roman  theologians  have  come  we  have  already 
seen,  but  the  point  is  often  overlooked.  Dr.  Pusey  said 
in  his  Eirenicon  ^  that,  "  the  ordinary  belief  in  England 
must  be,  that  God,  in  one  act,  at  the  particular 
judgment,  at  once  frees  the  soul  which  dies  in  His 
grace  from  all  sinfulness  which  clung  to  it  while 
yet  in  the  body,  and  fits  it  for  its  abode  in  Paradise." 
What  is  this  **  ordinary  belief"  but  that  held  by  the 
Roman  theologians  already  quoted,  that  the  guilt  of 
venial  sin  is  removed  and  evil  habits  are  done  away 
in  the  first  moment  after  death  ?  The  fact  is  that  the 
popular  Roman  doctrine  has  entirely  changed,  and 
the  very  name  of  "  Purgatory  "  is  now  not  a  suitable 
one  to  express  the  modern  Roman  teaching  that  souls 
are  not  purged  or  purified  in  Purgatory,  but  merely, 
punished.  It  is  true  that  some  theologians  still  teach' 
the  older  belief,  but  modern  Roman  theology  tends  to. 
make  Purgatory  merely  a  torture-chamber  for  paying 
off  a  debt.  A  modern  writer  says :  "In  one  respect, 
however,  some  Doctors,  since  the  Tridentine  Council, 
have  entirely  altered  their  minds.  We  have  seen  that, 
the  Mass  was  offered  for  those  who  were  '  not  as  yet 
fully   purged!      Hence    the    propriety    of    the    term 

^  On  Prayer,  xix.  part  3.  2  p^  1^2  (1865). 


350         The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

Purgatory,  But  since  the  time  of  Bellarmine  it  is 
commonly  believed  that  souls  become  neither  better 
nor  worse  in  Purgatory ;  they  are  perfect  in  love  and 
ready  for  Heaven.  All  that  remains  is  to  pay  the 
debt  due  for  their  sins."  i 

It  v^ould  seem  that  some  of  the  Roman  formularies 
teach  exactly  the  same  belief  as  the  Anglican  Book 
of  Common  Prayer.  In  the  Roman  Commendatory 
Oiffice — one  of  great  beauty — the  priest  prays  for  the 
departing  soul  in  these  vi^ords :  "  Come,  ye  Saints  of 
God,  hasten,  ye  Angels  of  the  Lord,  receive  his  soul, 
presenting  it  in  the  sight  of  the  most  High.  May 
Christ  receive  thee,  Who  called  thee,  and  lead  thee 
to  the  Bosom  of  Abraham,"  and  then  in  words  very 
similar  to  our  own  Commendatory  Prayer:  "O  Lord, 
we  commend  to  Thee  the  soul  of  Thy  servant  N., 
that,  dead  to  the  world,  he  may  live  to  Thee,  and 
whatever  sins  he  has  committed  in  this  life  through 
human  frailty,  do  Thou  in  Thy  most  merciful  good- 
ness forgive."  Our  own  prayer  is  perhaps  more 
in  accord  with  the  ancient  teaching,  since  it  prays 
that  the  soul  may  be  "purged."  In  another  part  of 
the  Commendation  of  the  Soul  the  Roman  Church 
petitions  :  "  Mayest  thou  be  a  stranger  to  all  that  is 
punished  with  darkness,  chastised  with  flames,  and 
condemned  to  torments,  and  do  Thou,  O  most  merciful 
Lord  Jesus  .  .  .  have  mercy  on  the  soul  of  Thy 
servant,    and    vouchsafe    to    introduce    him    into    the 

^  Purgatory,  in  Tracts  for  the  Day,  p.  24  (1868). 


Anglican   Teaching  351 

ever  verdant  and  delicious  places  of  Paradise.  .  .  ." 
Certainly  no  one  would  dream  from  the  Commendatory- 
Office  that  the  Roman  Church  thought  that  all  souls — 
except  perhaps  a  few  of  the  greatest  saints — passed 
into  the  blackness  of  darkness  and  torments  as  great 
as  those  of  Hell.  Her  liturgical  prayers  are  for  the 
most  part  entirely  inconsistent  with  her  popular  and 
ordinary  teaching. 

The  Church  of  England,  then,  seems  to  imply  the 
instantaneous  perfecting  of  the  soul,  but  she  nowhere 
lays  down  this  doctrine  explicitly,  and  we  have  perfect 
liberty  to  think  that  God  perfects,  and  cleanses,  and 
educates  the  souls  in  the  intermediate  state  more 
gradually,  and  more  after  the  way  in  which  He  acts 
while  the  soul  is  still  here  on  earth  united  with  the 
body.  This  more  tardy  education  of  the  soul  seems 
to  accord  better  also  with  the  idea  we  have  of  the 
justice  of  God.  It  seems  fitting — we  do  not  dare  to 
dogmatise  or  say.  It  is  fitting — that  if  two  men  have 
passed  away,  the  one  after  a  long  life  of  service  of  God, 
the  other  after  a  long  life  of  sin,  with  only  a  late 
repentance,  there  should  be  for  the  one  a  more  speedy, 
and  for  the  other  a  slower  entry  into  Heaven.  The 
ingrained  evil  habits  may  perhaps  be  only  slowly 
eradicated,  and  there  may  be  great  suffering  to  be 
borne  in  the  process.  The  suffering  would  not  be 
arbitrary,  nor  in  any  sense  a  torture  inflicted  to  atone 
to  the  justice  of  God,  but  would  be  some  such  sorrow 
and   grief  as   comes  from  the  knowledge  of  sin  and 


352  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

the  Ingratitude  of  a  life  of  sin.  The  Prodigal  Son  was 
fully  and  entirely  pardoned,  no  temporal  punishment 
was  inflicted  on  him  by  his  father,  but  surely  he  must 
have  felt  a  bitter  regret  and  shame — that  was  a  real 
pain — at  the  thought  of  his  past  life ;  this  sorrow  would 
be  all  the  greater  owing  to  the  generous  and  complete 
forgiveness  accorded  to  him.  Who  can  say  that 
because  he  was  forgiven,  the  long  habits  of  sin  were 
never  afterwards  a  source  of  trouble,  needed  not  to 
be  eradicated  ?  Something  of  the  same  sort  may  be 
true  hereafter.  This  kind  of  grief  and  sorrow,  as  well 
as  the  sense  of  unfitness  for  the  Presence  of  God,  and 
the  loss  of  that  Presence  for  a  time,  may  be  a  true 
Purgatory,  a  true  purification  of  the  soul  and  the  means 
by  which  it  makes  progress.  As  the  old  stains  of  sin 
are  worn  out  the  divine  image  is  restored  in  the  soul. 
Such  an  idea  of  Purgatory  is  absolutely  unlike  that 
taught  by  the  Romish  doctrine,  and  yet  as  the  Romish 
doctrine  is  not  de  fide^  this  reasonable  and  scriptural 
view  of  Purgatory  is,  at  any  rate,  tolerated  in  the 
Roman  Church.  It  was  beautifully  portrayed  by 
Dr.  Newman  in  some  lines  of  his  poem,  The  Dream 
of  Gerontius : — 

*' And  these  two  pains,  so  counter  and  so  keen — 
The  longing  for  Him,  when  thou  seest  Him  not, 
The  shame  of  self  at  thought  of  seeing  Him, 
Will  be  thy  veriest,  sharpest  Purgatory." 

,  Some  such   purification  hereafter,  opening  wide  the 
door    of   hope,    is    now    very    commonly    believed    in 


Anglican    Teaching  353 

by  those  outside  the  historic  Church  as  well  as  those 
within.  Such  well-known  Protestants  as  Carl  Nitzsch 
and  Martensen  in  Germany,  the  Danish  Dr.  Dorner,  and 
the  learned  Dr.  M tiller,  as  well  as  multitudes  of  English 
Protestants,  unhesitatingly  profess  a  belief  that  hereafter 
many  will  be  enlightened  and  gathered  into  the  Fold 
of  the  Good  Shepherd  who  have  seemed  here  to  give 
but  little  ground  for  hope  of  their  salvation.  Among 
the  many  Broad  Church  Anglicans  who  might  be  cited, 
Dr.  Farrar  may  especially  be  named  as  having  done 
much  to  spread  the  "hope  of  the  Gospel."  It  was 
supposed  at  one  time  that  he  denied  the  possibility 
that  any  could  so  harden  themselves  as  to  be  finally 
lost,  but  this  was  a  perversion  of  his  teaching.  When 
Dr.  Pusey  had  published  his  book.  What  is  of  Faith 
as  to  Everlasting  Punishment?  Dr.  Farrar  publicly 
asserted  that  on  every  question  that  he  deemed  to 
be  vital  Dr.  Pusey  was  absolutely  at  one  with  him, 
and  that  he  "and  Dr.  Pusey  argued  in  favour  of  two 
proposals — first,  that  God  might  reach  any  souls  whose 
case  to  us  seemed  to  be  hopeless ;  and  secondly,  that 
there  might  be  a  terminable  punishment  in  Hades  in 
the  intermediate  state  beyond  the  grave,"  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  he  had  "never  dared  to  assert  the  abstract 
proposition  that  no  punishment  could  be  endless,  or  that 
no  soul  could  harden  itself  finally  against  the  grace  of 
■  God."  In  other  words,  we  are  able  to  believe  that  "there 
is  a  Purgatory,"  while  we  reject  equally  without  doubt 
the  "  Romish  doctrine  concerning  Purgatory." 
2   A 


354  T^^^  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

"  It  remains  " — to  quote  Dr.  Plumptre — "  to  ask  how 
far  the  Church  of  England  has  definitely  pronounced 
her  judgment  on  the  subject"  of  Purgatory.  "Her 
twenty-second  Article  condemns  '  the  Romish  doctrine 
{doctrina  Romanensiuni)  concerning  Purgatory,  pardons,' 
etc.  But  the  Article  does  not  formulate  the  doctrine 
which  it  thus  condemns.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the 
Article  of  1553,  as  Cardinal  Newman  urged  in 
Tract  XC,  cannot  have  been  directed  against  the 
Tridentine  definition  of  1569.  The  change  of  the 
opening  words  of  the  Article,  at  a  time  when  no  such 
change  was  made  without  a  purpose,  from  the  doctrina 
Scholasticorum  (the  doctrine  of  the  Scholastics)  as  it 
stood  in  1553  to  the  doctrina  Romanensium  of  1562, 
indicates  that  it  was  directed  not  so  much  against  the 
formulated  statements  of  Lombard  or  Aquinas,  still 
less  against  the  earlier  teaching  of  the  Greek  and  Latin 
Fathers,  as  against  the  popular  current  teaching  of  the 
Romish  theologians  of  the  time,  and  so  far  as  the 
Tridentine  decrees,  with  whatever  reserves  and  limita- 
tions, embodied  that  teaching,  they  came  under  that 
condemnation.  On  the  other  hand,  the  association  of 
Purgatory  with  pardons,  and  the  fact  that  prayers 
for  the  dead  were  deliberately  exempted  from  the 
censure  in  which  some  of  the  more  vehement  of  the 
Reformers  had  sought  to  include  them,  may  legitimately 
be  urged  in  favour  of  a  certain  liberty  of  interpretation. 
Separate  the  doctrine  of  an  intermediate  state  of 
progressive   purification    and  growth   in  holiness  from 


Anglican   Teaching  355 

the  false  theories  and  the  corrupt  practices  of  the 
doctrina  Romanensium^  fall  back  upon  the  earlier  and 
purer  conception  of  a  Divine  education,  a  work  of 
healing,  and  then  the  belief  in  the  communion  of  Saints 
comes  into  natural  activity."  ^ 

These  words  are  valuable  as  the  expression  of  a 
learned  and  devout  mind  of  the  moderate  Broad- 
Church  School  of  thought.  They  show  that  the 
minds  of  Christian  people  are  drawing  nearer  to  one 
another,  and  it  is  now  no  longer  our  aim  to  show 
how  much  we  differ  from  other  parts  of  the  Church, 
but  how  much  we  hold  in  common.  This  is  well 
expressed  by  Dr.  Plumptre :  "  In  any  case  it  seems 
clear  that  so  far  as  we  cherish  a  belief  in  an  inter- 
mediate state  of  consciousness  at  all,  it  will  assume, 
under  the  law  of  progress  in  theology  to  which  all 
the  teaching  of  history  bears  witness,  a  very  different 
shape  to  the  doctrina  Romanensium  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  The  teachers  of  our  time — Roman  Catholics 
like  Cardinal  Newman,  Cardinal  Manning,  and  Mr. 
H.  N.  Oxenham ;  English  theologians  like  Dr.  Pusey, 
Mr.  Maurice,  Dr.  Farrar,  and  many  others;  Noncon- 
formists like  Mr.  Cox  and  Mr.  Baldwin  Brown — all 
drift  in  one  direction,  and  that  direction  is  one  of  a 
larger  charity  and  a  wider  hope.  Our  Purgatory,  if  we 
may  venture  to  seek  to  rehabilitate  that  abused  and 
dishonoured  word,  will  not  be  confined  to  the  baptized 
or  to  those  who  have  known  historically  and  through 

'   The  Spirits  in  Prison,  p.  307. 


35^  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen   World 

human  teachers  the  revelation  of  God  in  Christ,  but 
will  include  all  who  have  lived  according  to  the  light 
they  had,  and  have,  in  however  feeble  a  manner, 
repented  of  their  sins  and  followed  after  righteousness. 
It  will  not  exclude,  as  the  docU'ina  Romanensium  then 
excluded,  those  who  .  .  .  have  fallen  into  heresy  and 
lost  their  way  in  controversies  about  the  essentials 
or  non-essentials  of  the  faith.  It  will  not  consist 
in  the  torture  of  material  flames  or  be  measured 
according  to  the  theory  of  a  quantitative  satisfaction. 
We  shall  refrain  from  asking  questions  that  we  have 
no  data  for  answering  .  .  .  and  shall  be  content  to  leave 
the  whole  work  of  discipline  to  the  great  Teacher,  the 
whole  remedial  process  to  the  great  Healer.  We  shall 
not  think  that  the  souls  of  the  dead  are  cut  off  from 
the  sympathy  and  fellowship  of  which  prayer  is  the 
expression,  but  we  shall  dismiss  the  dream  that  the 
gift  of  God  can  be  purchased  with  money.  We  shall 
associate  their  memory  with  that  of  the  sacrifice  and 
death  of  Christ  in  our  Eucharistic  communion,  but 
we  shall  remember  that  the  sacrifice  was  made  once 
for  all,  for  the  living  and  the  dead  .  .  ."  ^ 

This  last  sentence  brings  into  prominence  the  subject 
of  prayer  for  the  departed  in  the  Church  of  England. 
The  following  passage  from  A  Necessary  Doctrine  and 
Erudition  for  any  Christian  Man  (published  in  1543 
with  fullest  Church  authority)  represents  the  mind  of 
the  English  Reformers  better  than  the  later  documents 

^  The  Spirits  in  Prison^  p.  309. 


Anglican   Teaching  357 

published  under  the  influence  of  foreign  Protestant- 
ism. In  this  book  we  are  told  that  "it  standeth  with 
the  very  order  of  charity  for  a  Christian  man  to  pray 
for  another,  both  quick  and  dead,  and  to  commend  one 
another  in  their  prayers  to  God's  mercy,  and  to  cause 
other  to  pray  for  them  also,  as  well  in  Masses  and 
exequies,  as  at  other  times,  and  to  give  alms  for  them, 
according  to  the  usage  of  the  Church  and  ancient 
opinion  of  the  old  Fathers  ;  trusting  that  these  things 
do  not  only  profit  and  avail  them,  but  also  declare 
us  to  be  charitable  folk,  because  we  have  mind  and 
desire  to  profit  them,  which,  notwithstanding  they  be 
departed  this  present  life,  yet  remain  they  still  members 
of  the  same  mystical  body  of  Christ  whereunto  we 
pertain. 

"  And  here  is  especially  to  be  noted,  that  it  is  not 
in  the  power  of  any  man  to  limit  and  dispense  how 
much,  and  in  what  space  of  time,  or  to  what  person 
particularly  the  said  masses,  exequies,  and  suffrages 
do  profit  and  avail ;  therefore  charity  requireth  that 
whosoever  causeth  any  such  masses,  exequies,  or 
suffrages  to  be  done,  should  yet  (though  their  intent 
be  more  for  one  than  for  another)  cause  them  also  to 
be  done  for  the  universal  congregation  of  Christian 
people,  quick  and  dead  ;  for  that  power  and  knowledge 
afore  rehearsed  pertaineth  only  unto  God,  Which  alone 
knoweth  the  measures  and  times  of  His  own  judgment 
and  mercies. 

"  Furthermore,    because    the   place    where    the   souls 


35^  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen  World 

remain,  the  name  thereof,  the  state  and  condition  which 
they  be  in,  be  to  us  uncertain,  therefore  these,  with 
all  such  other  things,  must  also  be  left  to  Almighty 
God,  unto  Whose  mercy  it  is  meet  and  convenient 
for  us  to  commend  them,  trusting  that  God  accepteth 
our  prayers  for  them ;  reserving  the  rest  wholly  to 
God,  unto  Whom  is  known  their  estate  and  condition ; 
and  not  we  to  take  upon  us,  neither  in  the  one  part 
nor  yet  in  the  other,  to  give  any  fond  and  temerarious 
judgment  in  so  high  things  so  far  passing  our 
knowledge." 

In  the  First  Prayer-book  of  Edward  the  Sixth 
(which  those  who  greatly  esteem  Acts  of  Parliament 
will  do  well  to  remember  was  declared  by  Act  of 
Parliament  to  have  been  written  "by  the  aid  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  and  to  be  "  a  very  godly  order,  agreeable 
to  the  Word  of  God  and  the  primitive  Church") 
prayers  for  the  departed  were  plainly  worded,  so  that 
there  could  not  be,  as  in  the  later  Prayer-books,  any 
dispute  as  to  their  meaning.  The  fact  cannot  be 
denied  that  in  the  Second  Prayer-book  such  prayers 
were  either  omitted  or  rewritten,  so  as  to  be  capable 
of  use  by  the  more  narrow-minded  Puritan  party, 
inspired  from  abroad.  But  while  we  may  lament  that 
the  Church  of  England  allowed  the  later  Reformers 
to  depart  from  the  practice  of  the  primitive  Church 
to  which  in  theory  she  appealed,  we  may  also  re- 
member that  she  distinctly  refused  to  allow  prayers 
for  the  departed  to  be  condemned. 


Angiicmi   Teaching  359 

There  is  no  primitive  Liturgy  without  a  prayer  for, 
or  commemoration  of,  the  departed.  Our  own  Liturgy, 
though  falling  short  of  the  primitive  pattern,  has  still 
so  far  retained  the  old  idea  that  it  contains  the  petition, 
"  that  by  the  merits  and  death  of  Thy  Son  Jesus  Christ, 
and  through  faith  in  His  Blood,  we  and  all  Thy  whole 
Church  may  obtain  remission  of  our  sins  and  all  other 
benefits  of  His  Passion."  In  another  prayer  we  have  a 
thanksgiving  "  for  all  Thy  servants  departed  this  life  in 
Thy  faith  and  fear,"  followed  by  words  that  some  con- 
sider to  be  a  prayer,  "beseeching  Thee  to  give  us  grace 
so  to  follow  their  good  examples,  that  with  them  we 
may  be  partakers  of  Thy  heavenly  kingdom."  In  the 
Burial  Office  there  are  similar  words :  "  Beseeching 
Thee  .  .  .  that  we,  with  all  those  that  are  departed 
in  the  true  faith  of  Thy  Holy  Name,  may  have  our 
perfect  consummation  and  bliss,  both  in  body  and 
soul,  in  Thy  eternal  and  everlasting  glory."  The 
addition,  however,  of  the  words  "militant  here  on 
earth "  to  the  former  invitation,  "  Let  us  pray  for  the 
whole  state  of  Christ's  Church,"  together  with  the 
omission  of  the  plain  prayers  for  the  departed  that 
were  in  the  First  Book  of  Edward  the  Sixth,  make  it 
probable  that  the  compilers  of  the  later  books  wished 
to  imply  the  doctrine — already  referred  to — that  taught 
the  instantaneous  perfecting  of  the  righteous,  and  their 
immediate  entry  into  Heaven.^  This  is  confirmed  by 
the  words  of  the  Homily  on  Prayer,  which  denies  in 

1  See  p.  347. 


360  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

so  many  words  that  there  is  any  intermediate  place  at 
all  :  "  As  the  Scripture  teacheth  us,  let  us  think  that 
the  soul  of  man  passing  out  of  the  body  goeth  straight- 
way either  to  heaven  or  hell,  whereof  the  one  needeth  no 
prayer  and  the  other  is  without  redemption.  Let  us 
not  therefore  dream  either  of  Purgatory  or  of  prayer 
for  the  souls  of  them  that  be  dead."^ 

The  Homilies,  although,  speaking  generally,  they 
contain  "  a  godly  and  wholesome  doctrine,"  are  not 
to  be  taken  seriously  when  they  touch  on  points  of 
controversy  with  Romie.  They  represent  the  ex- 
aggerated reaction  against  Romanism  that,  for  a 
while,  disturbed  the  judgment  of  the  later  reformers 
and  caused  them  to  do  and  say  much  that  is  now 
best  forgotten,  as  we  are  in  no  way  bound  by 
their  opinions.  The  present  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury will  not  be  suspected  of  "  Romanising,"  and 
therefore  his  words  on  the  subject  of  prayer  for  the 
departed  may  be  quoted  as  representative  of  the 
average  belief  and  practice  of  the  Anglican  Church, 
removed  alike  from  the  nearer  approach  of  some 
individual  Churchmen  to  Rome  on  the  one  hand,  or 
to  Geneva  on  the  other : — 

"  There  is,  of  course,  a  very  great  difference  between 
praying  to  the  departed  and  praying  for  them.  They 
are  in  God's  Hands ;  but  it  is  possible  that  He  may 
allow  our  prayers  to  help  them,  and  we  cannot  point 

^  This  denial  of  an  intermediate  place  recalls  the  Eastern  doctrine,  but 
the  denial  of  the  use  of  prayer  for  the  departed  is  of  course  perfectly  un- 
orthodox. 


Anglican   Teaching  361 

out  any  evil  that  is  likely  to  come  from  such  prayers, 
provided  only  that  we  do  not  allow  ourselves  to  be 
led  into  adopting  dreams  and  fictions  concerning  their 
conditions.  We  do  not  know — we  cannot  know — for 
God  has  not  told  us,  what  is  happening  to  them  in  that 
other  world,  and  we  have  no  right  to  set  up  inventions 
of  our  own,  and  adapt  our  worship  to  such  inventions. 
What  they  may  need,  in  order  to  be  fitted  for  the 
final  entrance  into  perfect  happiness,  we  cannot  tell. 
We  are  told  that  there  will  be  at  the  Last  Day  some 
whose  work  will  be  burnt,  but  who  nevertheless  will 
themselves  be  saved.  And  we  see  men  die  who  seem  to 
be  forgiven,  but  nevertheless  are  so  full  of  imperfections 
that  we  can  hardly  believe  them  as  yet  fit  for  Heaven. 
They  are  not  yet  sanctified.  They  have  not  that  holiness 
without  which  no  man  can  see  the  Lord.  We  have 
no  right  to  invent  accounts  of  the  way  by  which  they 
may  be  purified.  We  know  that  they  will  be  changed 
when  the  Lord  comes ;  but  the  nature,  the  manner, 
and  the  process  of  that  change  is  not  made  known. 
To  pray  for  the  dead  is  not  forbidden  by  the  New 
Testament,  and  it  is  not  forbidden  by  the  Church  of 
England,  and  our  Ecclesiastical  Courts  accordingly  have 
so  decided  it.  But  while  the  Church  of  England  no- 
where forbids  prayers  for  the  departed,  it  nevertheless 
does  not  authorise  the  introduction  of  such  prayers 
into  our  public  worship  except  in  the  most  cautious 
and  guarded  manner.  In  our  public  worship  we  pray 
for  ourselves,  that  we  '  with  all  those  that  are  departed 


362  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen   World 

in  the  true  faith  of  God's  holy  Name  may  have  our 
perfect  consummation  and  bHss  both  in  body  and  soul 
in  God's  eternal  and  everlasting  glory.'  This  is  the 
model  which  we  are  bound  to  follow  in  our  public 
worship.  We  ought  to  confine  ourselves  within  the 
limits  here  indicated,  for  where  we  know  so  little 
it  is  a  duty  of  reverence  to  let  our  words  be  few, 
lest  perchance  there  may  be  something  said  which 
is  inconsistent  with  that  which  God  is  doing,  lest 
perchance  we  may  be  pretending  to  understand 
what  is  altogether  hidden,  lest  perchance  we  induce 
others,  in  following  our  example,  to  be  incautious 
and  to  step  beyond  the  limits  which  ought  to 
confine  all  approaches  to  the  very  Presence  of 
God.  In  our  private  prayers  there  is  nothing  in 
the  Church  of  England  teaching  to  forbid  our  prayers 
for  those  whom  we  love,  and  who  are  gone  before  us, 
but  in  our  public  worship  there  is  need  of  that  kind 
of  reverence  which  restrains  the  language  and  which 
perpetually  acknowledges  our  own  ignorance — our 
ignorance  both  as  to  what  is  happening  in  the  world 
of  spirits,  and  our  ignorance  of  how  God  will  bring 
to  a  completion  the  work  which  He  has  begun  in 
Christian  souls."  ^ 

It  would  no  doubt  be  a  piece  of  private  judgment 
and  contrary  to  "  Catholic  usage "  for  any  priest  to 
add  prayers  for  the  departed  to  the  Public  Offices  of 

^    Visitation^  held  at   Canterbury  by  the   Primate  (F.  Temple,  D.D.), 
October,  1898. 


Anglican   Teaching  '^6'}^ 

the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  but  in  special  services 
of  a  more  popular  sort,  as  well  as  in  private  prayer, 
there  is  no  apparent  reason  why  we  should  not  pray 
for  those  blessings  to  be  granted  to  the  departed  that 
the  Church  desires  for  the  soul  when  it  leaves  the 
body.  As  far  as  we  of  the  Church  of  England  are 
concerned  these  desiderata  are  expressed  in  the 
authoritative  prayers  of  the  Anglican  communion — a 
few  of  which  may  here  be  noticed.  We  may  pray, 
surely,  after  the  soul  has  left  the  body  as  well  as  up 
to  the  moment  of  its  departure,  that  it  "may  be  re- 
ceived into  Thine  everlasting  kingdom,"  into  "  heavenly 
habitations"  where  "the  spirits  of  just  men  made 
perfect  ...  are  in  joy  and  felicity  "  ;  we  may  moreover 
ask  God  to  receive  the  souls  that  depart  hence,  to 
"wash  them  in  the  Blood  of  that  Immaculate  Lamb 
that  was  slain  to  take  away  the  sins  of  the  world," 
and  to  purge  and  do  away  "whatsoever  defilements" 
have  been  "contracted  in  the  midst  of  this  miserable 
and  naughty  world,"  so  that,  "  pure  and  without  spot,"  ^ 
the  souls  of  the  departed  may  be  presented  before  God 
and  be  found  worthy  to  live  with  Him.  In  addition 
to  these  prayers  our  appeal  to  the  primitive  Church 
would  quite  justify  the  use  of  the  prayers  found  in 
the  Greek  Liturgies  which  ask  for  the  soul  rest,  light, 
joy,  and  peace.  All  these  and  such  like  petitions  do 
not    attempt    to    dogmatise    as    to    the    "nature,    the 

^  The  above  expressions  are  found  in  the  collects  for  the   Visitation 
of  the  Sick,  and  in  the  Order  for  the  Burial  of  the  Dead. 


364  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen  World 

manner,  and  the  process"  of  the  change  from  imper- 
fection to  holiness  which  we  hope  and  pray  for  on 
behalf  of  the  souls  of  the  departed.  Few  better 
prayers  for  the  departed  could  be  found  than  the  one 
"  for  a  sick  person  at  the  point  of  departure  "  in  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer.  ^ 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  was  in  union  with 
the  Eucharistic  Sacrifice  that  the  primitive  Church 
desired  especially  that  prayer  should  be  made  for  the 
living  on  earth,  and  the  living  who  have  departed 
hence.  They  who  understand  the  power  of  the 
representation  of  the  Sacrifice  once  offered  on  Calvary 
will  not  need  to  be  told  that  the  Eucharist  is  the  most 
prevailing  suffrage  that  the  Church  Militant  can  offer 
for  the  Church  Expectant.  We  cannot  say  how  our 
Eucharists  and  prayers  help  the  departed — for  we 
know  but  little  of  the  way  in  which  prayer  is  efficacious 
even  for  those  on  earth.  We  nevertheless  believe  that 
God  accepts  our  prayers,  and  above  all,  the  Memorial 
of  the  Great  Sacrifice  which  is  the  one  Divine  Service 
that  has  been  given  to  us,  instituted  by  God  Him- 
self 

To  sum  up.  It  is  possible  that  the  souls  of  the 
departed  who  are  capable  of  salvation  are  perfected 
in  an  instant,  at  their  departure  from  the  body,  but 
we  do  not  know  that  this  is  so,  or  that  if  it  is  so  with 
some,  it  must  necessarily  be  so  with  all.  If  the  departed 
are   gradually   perfected,   according    to   those    laws   of 

^  Quoted  on  p.  224. 


Anglican   Teaching  365 

continuity  on  which  Butler  rests  the  main  argument 
of  his  Analogy,  then,  although  we  know  not  how 
much  our  prayers  may  help  in  the  work  of  progress, 
we  may  pray  in  faith  and  hope,  following  the  guidance 
and  example  of  the  Church  of  God — Jewish  as  well  as 
Christian — assured  that  the  whole  Church  would  not 
have  been  allowed  to  go  astray.  This  witness  of  the 
Church  is  confirmed  by  the  practice  of  prayers  and 
rites  for  the  departed  finding  a  place  also  in  many 
of  the  religions  of  antiquity.  If  "prayer  is  the  soul's 
sincere  desire,  uttered  or  unexpressed,"  we  believe 
that  all  men  do  really  pray  for  the  departed,  since  all 
sincerely  desire  their  welfare  from  God.  Above  all 
other  suffrages  we  should  value  the  Eucharist  and 
offer  it  for  those  who  have  been  redeemed  by  the 
Sacrifice  it  commemorates. 

We  cannot  dogmatise  as  to  where  the  souls  may  be 
whom  God  is  perfecting;  they  are  "where  Thou,  O 
God,  knowest  ' — in  Thy  Hand.  We  believe  no  torment 
can  touch  them,  but  since,  wherever  they  are,  they  are 
being  washed  in  the  Precious  Blood  and  purified  and 
purged  from  all  defilements,  the  state  of  these  souls 
is  not  unfitly  called  one  of  purification — a  Purgatory. 
And,  being  solicitous  rather  of  agreement  with  others 
than  of  discord,  we  can  thankfully  profess  that  we 
have  no  quarrel  with  the  dogmatic  teaching  of  the  rest 
of  the  Western  Church,  that  "There  is  a  Purgatory, 
and  that  the  souls  detained  there  are  helped  by  the 
prayers  of  the  faithful,  and,  above  all,  by  the  acceptable 


366  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen   World 

Sacrifice  of  the  Altar."  ^  We  regret  that  there  is  still 
a  "  Romish  doctrine  concerning  Purgatory,  Pardons, 
etc.,"  which  must  be  condemned  now,  as  it  was  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  as  "a  fond  thing  vainly  invented, 
and  grounded  upon  no  warranty  of  Scripture,  but 
rather  repugnant  to  the  Word  of  God." 

^  Explained  as  suggested  by  Father  Hunter,  S.J.     See  p.  293. 


XVII. 

''  3e0U0,  aub  tbe  IReeurrection '' 


"  Now  if  Christ  be  preached  that  He  rose  from  the  dead,  how 
say  some  among  you  that  there  is  no  resurrection  of  the  dead  ? 
But  if  there  be  no  resurrection  of  the  dead,  then  is  Christ  not 
risen  :  and  if  Christ  be  not  risen,  then  is  our  preaching  vain, 
and  your  faith  is  also  vain.  Yea,  and  we  are  found  false  witnesses 
"*  of  God  ;  because  we  have  testified  of  God  that  He  raised  up 
Christ :  Whom  He  raised  not  up,  if  so  be  that  the  dead  rise  not. 
For  if  the  dead  rise  not,  then  is  not  Christ  raised  :  and  if  Christ 
be  not  raised,  your  faith  is  vain  ;  ye  are  yet  in  your  sins.  Then 
they  also  which  are  fallen  asleep  in  Christ  are  perished." — St.  Paul 
(i  Cor.  XV.  1 2- 1 8). 

"...  he  preached  unto  them  Jesus,  and  the  resurrection." — 
Acts  xvii.  1 8. 


XVII. 

'*  5cB\XB,  anb  tbe  IResurtectton 


a 


THE  Christian  faith  differs  from  the  anticipations 
of  the  future  Hfe  that  are  found  in  Paganism 
in  the  high  dignity  it  reveals  as  in  store  for  the  human 
body.  The  great  teachers  of  ancient  Greece  and 
Rome  believed  the  soul  to  be  immortal,  and  taught 
that  in  the  life  after  death  the  emancipation  of  the 
soul  from  the  body  was  its  supreme  reward,  enabling 
the  soul  to  attain  to  the  fullest  knowledge.  Plato 
taught  that  the  body  was  nothing  but  a  hindrance 
to  the  progress  of  the  soul ;  he  could  not  foresee 
that  it  was  capable  of  redemption,  and  in  another 
life  could  become  the  fitting  instrument  of  the  soul. 
In  the  Phcedo  he  puts  these  words  (among  many  others 
to  the  same  effect)  into  the  mouth  of  "real  philosophers": 
"  It  has  been  proved  to  us  by  experience  that  if  we 
would  have  pure  knowledge  of  anything  we  must  be 
quit  of  the  body — the  soul  in  herself  must  behold 
things  in  themselves :  and  then  we  shall  attain  to  the 
wisdom  which  we  desire,  and  of  which  we  say  that 
we  are  lovers  ;  not  while  we  live,  but  after  death ;  for 
if  while  in  company  with  the  body  the  soul  cannot 
3   13  369 


370         The  Sottl  in  the   Unseen  Wo7^ld 

have  pure  knowledge,  one  of  two  things  follows — 
either  knowledge  is  not  to  be  attained  at  all,  or,  if  at 
all,  after  death.  For  then,  and  not  till  then,  the  soul 
will  be  parted  from  the  body  and  exist  in  herself  alone. 
In  this  present  life  I  reckon  that  we  make  the  nearest 
approach  to  knowledge  when  we  have  the  least  possible 
intercourse  or  communion  with  the  body,  and  are 
not  surfeited  with  the  bodily  nature,  but  keep  ourselves 
pure  until  the  hour  when  God  Himself  is  pleased  to 
release  us.  And  thus,  having  got  rid  of  the  foolishness 
of  the  body,  we  shall  be  pure  and  hold  converse  with 
the  pure,  and  know  of  ourselves  the  clear  light  every- 
where, which  is  no  other  than  the  light  of  truth.  .  .  . 
And  what  is  purification  but  the  separation  of  the 
soul  from  the  body  ? "  ^  It  is  only  the  sensual  who 
make  much  of  the  body.  The  souls  of  such  men 
after  death  are  doomed  to  "  prowl  about  tombs  and 
sepulchres "  until,  as  a  penalty,  "  they  are  imprisoned 
finally  in  another  body."  ^ 

In  many  parts  of  the  Bible  the  body  is  spoken  of 
as  a  hindrance  to  the  soul.  We  are  told  that  "  the  cor- 
ruptiblc  body  presseth  down  the  soul,  and  the  earthy 
tabernacle  weigheth  down  the  mind  that  museth  upon 
many  things " ;  ^  and  St.  Paul's  words  :  "  O  wTetched 
man  that  I  am  ;  who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of 
this  death  ? "  ^  are  as  strong  as  any  that  Plato  wrote. 
St.  Paul,  however,  had   a  sure  and   certain  hope  not 

1  Phcedo,  66,  67.  2  Id.  81. 

'  Wisdom  ix.  15.  ■*  Romans  vii.  24, 


^' Jesus ^  and  the  ResMri^ection'''  371 

merely  for  the  spirit  of  man  after  death,  but  for  man 
as  a  whole.  He  prays  not  so  much  for  an  emancipa- 
tion of  the  soul  from  the  body  as  for  the  redemption 
of  the  body,  and  the  preservation  of  the  whole  man — 
body,  soul,  and  spirit — ^"  blameless  unto  the  coming 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."^  It  was  upon  the  "hope 
and  resurrection  of  the  dead "  ^  that  St.  Paul  based 
his  anticipation  of  a  hereafter.  So  strongly  does  he 
insist  upon  this  that  he  does  not  scruple  to  say  the 
whole  Christian  faith  in  this  world,  and  the  whole 
Christian  hope  for  the  life  of  the  world  to  come, 
depend  upon  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  that 
the  hope  of  the  resurrection  is  based  upon  the  fact 
of  the  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ.  "  If  Christ  be 
preached  that  He  rose  from  the  dead,  how  say  some 
among  you  that  there  is  no  resurrection  of  the  dead  ? 
But  if  there  be  no  resurrection  of  the  dead,  then  is 
Christ  not  risen  :  and  if  Christ  be  not  risen,  then  is  our 
preaching  vain,  and  your  faith  is  also  vain.  Yea,  and 
we  are  found  false  witnesses  of  God  ;  because  we  have 
testified  of  God  that  He  raised  up  Christ :  Whom  He 
raised  not  up,  if  so  be  that  the  dead  rise  not.  For  if 
the  dead  rise  not,  then  is  not  Christ  raised  :  and  if 
Christ  be  not  raised,  your  faith  is  vain ;  ye  are  yet  in 
your  sins.  Then  they  also  which  are  fallen  asleep  in 
Christ  are  perished."^  If  there  was  to  be  no  resurrection 
of  the  dead,  it  would  seem  that  St.  Paul  could  not  hope 
for  that  fuller  life  which  Plato  had  written  about.     The 

^  I  Thess.  V.  23.         2  Acts  xxiii.  6.         ^  i  Cor.  xv.  i2-i8. 


'^']2  The  S021I  in  the   Unseen   World 

survival  of  the  soul  in  endless  separation  from  the 
body,  so  far  from  being  a  more  complete  and  perfect 
state,  appeared  to  St.  Paul  as  the  triumph  of  death, 
so  that  he  could  only  say  that  if  there  is  no  resurrection, 
then  they  which  "are  fallen  asleep  in  Christ  are  perished." 
This  divergence  from  the  doctrine  of  Plato  no  doubt 
had  its  origin  in  a  radically  different  doctrine  concerning 
the  soul.  In  Plato's  philosophy  the  soul  exists  before 
the  body ;  it  is,  in  fact,  without  beginning  and  without 
end,  and  is  sent  into  a  human  body  owing  to  some 
imperfection.  It  falls  from  heaven  to  earth  and  enters 
into  a  body  for  which  it  was  not  originally  designed  ; 
hence  its  union  with  the  body  is  accidental  and  penal. 
The  Christian  doctrine  teaches  quite  the  reverse.  The 
soul  is  created  for  the  human  body ;  apart  from  the 
body  it  is,  even  when  perfect  in  itself,  accidentally 
imperfect,  inasmuch  as  it  lacks  that  bodily  organism 
which  it  was  designed  to  inform.  Death  is  therefore 
not  conquered  by  the  escape  of  the  soul  from  the 
body,  but  by  the  body  being  through  death  prepared 
for  a  reunion  with  the  soul,  and  gifted  with  a  perfect 
life.  Sown  in  corruption,  the  body  is  raised  in  incor- 
ruption  ;  sown  a  natural  body,  it  is  raised  a  spiritual 
body ;  sown  in  weakness,  it  is  raised  in  power.  In 
this  way  the  whole  man — and  not  merely  the  soul — • 
overcomes  death  and  enters  into  life.  It  may  be  for 
this  reason  that  so  little  is  said  in  Holy  Scripture  of 
the  soul  in  the  intermediate  state.  That  state  was 
altered   by   the   Passion,   Resurrection,  and    Ascension 


^^ Jesus,  and  the  Resurrection'''  2)1  Z 

of  Jesus  Christ,  and  so  any  description  of  it  before 
the  Incarnation  would  have  had  to  be  amended  after- 
wards. The  same  is  true  of  the  state  of  the  soul 
after  death  from  the  time  of  our  Lord's  Ascension  until 
His  Second  Coming.  It  is  not  a  final  state,  not  an 
eternal  one,  and  it  does  not  concern  man,  but  man's  soul. 
Hence  it  may  be  that  while  we  cannot  be  indifferent 
to  what  may  be  the  lot  of  the  soul  apart  from  the  body, 
we  are  not  so  to  fix  our  gaze  upon  the  soul  as  to  forget 
that  the  final  revelation  of  God  concerns  the  whole 
man,  and  consequently  we  should  look  on  to  that  "  life 
of  the  world  to  come  "  which  follows  after  "  the  resur- 
rection of  the  flesh."  St.  Paul  therefore  bases  the  faith 
and  the  hope  of  the  Christian  upon  the  fact  of  the 
Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead. 

It  is  of  course  perfectly  true  that  our  Lord's  Resurrec- 
tion is  and  always  has  been  a  stumbling-block  to  many. 
If  the  Apostles  could  have  been  content  to  ignore  this 
doctrine,  and  to  preach  merely  a  figurative  resurrection 
of  Jesus  Christ,  they  might,  humanly  speaking,  have 
succeeded  more  easily  in  persuading  men  to  accept 
their  doctrine.  It  was  because  "he  preached  unto  them 
Jesus  and  the  resurrection"  that  St.  Paul  met  with  so 
great  resistance  from  "certain  philosophers  of  the 
Epicureans  and  Stoicks."^  It  was  ''when  they  heard 
of  the  resurrection"  that  "some  mocked."^  We  may 
be  sure,  then,  that  the  resurrection  was  an  absolutely 
essential  part  of  the  Gospel,  and  that  to  leave  it  out 

^  Acts  xvii.  i8.  •  2  Acts  xvii.  32. 


374  ^^^^  Soul  in  the  Unseen   Wo^dd 

or  explain  it  away  would  have  been  to  proclaim 
"another  gospel;  which  is  not  another/' ^  but  a  weak 
and  emasculated  distortion  of  the  truth. 

The  indisputable  fact  that  Christianity  has  triumphed 
over  all  the  opposing  forces  of  a  hostile  world,  and  that 
now,  after  nineteen  centuries,  the  Name  of  Jesus  Christ 
is  confessedly  above  every  name,  has  never  been 
explained  by  those  who  deny  that  Jesus  Christ  ever 
really  rose  from  the  dead.  Christianity  is  an  absolutely 
unique  fact,  and  traces  its  origin  to  a  unique  character 
and  life,  through  a  series  of  events  without  parallel 
in  the  history  of  the  human  race. 

That  Jesus  Christ  stands  on  an  elevation  which  is 
solitary  and  unrivalled  is  not  usually  denied  by  in- 
telligent persons.  But  if  He  stands  thus  alone,  His 
greatness  must  be  due  to  some  cause  different  from 
those  forces  which  have  produced  other  great  men. 
A  unique  effect  is  before  the  eyes  of  the  world,  and  it 
surely  leads  us  to  expect  a  unique  cause.  All  that  we 
know  about  Jesus  Christ  beyond  the  mere  fact  that  He 
lived  and  died  is  what  we  are  told  in  the  New  Testament. 
His  character  as  depicted  in  the  Gospels  is  generally 
allowed  to  be  the  noblest  ever  portrayed  in  literature. 

It  is  almost  inconceivable  that  an  impostor,  or  one  a 
prey  to  self-deception,  should  occupy  the  place  that 
Jesus  Christ  has  for  nineteen  centuries  held  in  Christen- 
dom. It  is  equally  difficult  to  suppose  that  all  the  love 
and   worship   of  the    Church   during   these   long   ages 

»  Gal.  i.  6,  7. 


^' Jesus,  and  the  Resurrection^'  375 

have  been  offered  to  a  hero  of  fiction.  We  can  only 
say  that  if  the  portrait  of  Jesus  Christ  drawn  by  the 
Evangelists  is  a  merely  imaginary  one,  and  the  teaching 
attributed  to  Him  is  the  invention  of  some  fraudulent 
writers  of  a  later  age,  then  these  men  must  for  ever 
rank  as  the  greatest  of  literary  and  imaginative  authors. 
Their  work  is  little  less  than  a  miraculous  effort  of 
genius.  No  one  will  pretend  that  any  other  book  has 
ever  been  to  the  world  at  large  what  the  New  Testament 
has  been,  or  that  any  other  character  has  influenced 
men  as  they  have  been  influenced  by  the  character 
and  teaching  of  the  Christ  as  portrayed  by  the 
Evangelists.  No ;  the  Divinity  of  Jesus  Christ  is 
the  unique  cause  which  can  alone  account  for  the 
undeniably  unique  effect  of  His  life  and  doctrine  upon 
the  best  and  noblest  people  of  the  world.  Other  men 
have  done  much,  and  their  names  are  deservedly  held 
in  honour,  but  there  is  no  parallel  known  in  history 
to  that  success  which  has  been  achieved  by  the  Name 
of  Jesus  Christ. 

Christianity  is  not  merely  a  doctrinal  system,  a  code 
of  ethics,  or  even  the  veneration  of  a  great  teacher, 
but  it  is  the  worship  and  service  of  Christ  Jesus, 
founded  upon  a  belief  in  His  Divinity.  It  is  the  ac- 
ceptance of  all  that  is  implied  in  the  simple  and 
yet  profound  doctrine  of  St.  John :  "  In  the  beginning 
was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and 
the  Word  was  God.  .  .  .  And  the  Word  was  made 
Flesh  and  dwelt  among  us."     Such  an  Incarnation  has 


'i^'](>  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen  World 

happened  but  once,  and  therefore  we  are  not  surprised 
that  its  influence  has  no  parallel ;  that  never  man 
spake  like  the  Incarnate  Son,  Who  had  "the  words 
of  eternal  life."  ^  Other  great  teachers  have  asserted 
their  influence  and  made  for  themselves  a  name  before 
their  death,  but  Jesus  Christ  died  almost  unknown,  and 
forsaken  by  all.  As  men  reckon  failure,  no  man  ever 
failed  more  completely  than  Jesus  Christ  seemed  to 
have  failed  at  the  moment  of  His  death.  And  if  now 
He  is  everywhere  known,  loved,  and  worshipped,  and 
has  made  disciples  of  the  greatest  and  best  of  men 
of  all  nations,  it  is  due  to  the  fact,  not  merely  that 
He  "was  crucified,  dead,  and  buried,"  but  that  "the 
third  day  He  rose  again  from  the  dead."  The  reality 
of  His  Resurrection  proved  to  be  beyond  the  power 
of  men  to  dispute,  and  so  by  the  sheer  force  of  truth 
won  them  to  the  obedience  of  the  risen  Lord. 

No  one  can  seriously  maintain  that  the  belief  in  the 
Resurrection  originated  in  a  fraud.  Those  who  deny 
that  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  word,  and  not 
figuratively,  Christ  rose  from  the  dead,  now  very 
generally  maintain  that  the  Apostles  were  victims  of 
some  mental  hallucination.  This  explanation  is  known 
as  "the  theory  of  visions."  According  to  this  theory 
Christ  never  rose  from  the  dead :  nobody  knows  what 
became  of  His  dead  body,  but  His  credulous  Apostles, 
having  quite  made  up  their  minds  that  He  would  rise 
again,  fancied  that  they  actually  saw  Him  alive ;  they 

1  St.  John  vi.  68. 


^^ Jesus,  and  the  Resurrection^^  377 

had  imaginary  interviews  with  their  Master,  and 
supposed  that  He  told  them  to  found  a  Society  called 
the  Church.  For  some  reason — not  explained — all  the 
Apostles  and  disciples  at  a  given  moment  ceased  to 
see  these  visions  and  were  impressed  with  the  further 
extraordinary  idea  that  their  Lord  had  ascended  into 
Heaven,  and  that  angels  had  told  them  He  would  come 
again  in  like  manner  as  He  had  departed.  On  these 
delusions  the  Apostles  founded  the  Church  and  went 
everywhere  making  disciples.  The  Church  these 
visionaries  founded  has,  strange  to  say,  outlived  all 
the  monarchies  of  the  world,  and  in  the  twentieth 
century  of  her  life  shows  no  signs  of  decrepitude 
or  approaching  dissolution ;  she  still  preaches  with 
unfaltering  voice  "Jesus,  and  the  Resurrection,"  still 
finds  the  example  of  our  Lord  all  she  needs  for  the 
regeneration  of  mankind. 

According  to  those  who  deny  the  Resurrection,  false- 
hood and  delusion  have  been  the  great  saviours  of 
the  world,  and  have  made  men  love  truth  and  right- 
eousness. Beelzebub  has  indeed  turned  his  weapons 
against  himself,  and  become  the  great  Exorcist.  In 
fact,  the  theory  of  visions  in  getting  rid  of  one  miracle 
seems  to  have  surrounded  us  with  a  network  of  in- 
credible marvels.  We  entirely  reject  the  theory  of 
visions  because  it  supposes  that  an  evil  tree  can  bring 
forth  good  fruit ;  that  hallucination  has  for  nineteen 
centuries  been  the  mainspring  of  all  that  is  best  and 
truest  in  Christendom. 


37^         The  Soul  in  the  Unseen  World 

But  there  are  other  reasons  for  the  rejection  of  this 
endeavour  of  rationahsm  to  destroy  the  Gospel.  If 
we  are  to  pay  any  attention  to  the  story  told  in  the 
New  Testament,  we  find  that  there  was  no  "  fixed 
idea"  in  the  minds  of  the  Apostles  as  to  a  resurrec- 
tion, and  the  "fixed  idea"  is  one  of  the  three  mental 
conditions  required  to  enable  even  the  most  credu- 
lous to  see  visions  and  mistake  them  for  realities. 
Again,  those  possessed  by  this  "  fixed  idea "  always 
see  what  they  expect  to  see.  When  our  Lord  ap- 
peared, those  who  saw  Him  are  represented  as  either 
not  knowing  Him  or  being  slow  to  recognise  their 
Master.  Now,  no  "  idea "  of  a  resurrection  body  that 
was  not  an  exact  reproduction  of  the  body  that  had 
been  buried  was  familiar  to  the  Jews.  If  the  excited 
fancy  of  the  Apostles  and  women  had  pictured  the 
risen  Christ,  they  would  most  assuredly  have  imagined 
Him  to  be  in  appearance  exactly  as  He  had  been 
before  the  Passion.  The  fact  that  our  Lord  was  not 
recognised  immediately  by  those  who  saw  Him — and 
yet  the  reality  of  His  Resurrection  was  forced  upon 
them — is  a  strong  proof  that  the  Resurrection  was  a 
reality,  for  which  no  "  fixed  idea "  had  prepared  His 
disciples.  We  who  know  that  the  body  is  "  changed  " 
in  the  resurrection  can  quite  understand  how  those  who 
were  still  in  the  "  natural  body  "  might  fail  to  recognise 
One  Who  had  put  on  the  "  spiritual  body "  of  the 
other  world.  But  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  body,  involving  change,  a  change  in  its  nature,  was 


''Jesus,  and  the  Resurrection'''  379 

so  far  from  being  a  "  fixed  idea "  that  it  was  not  even 
known  to  the  most  enhghtened  of  the  Jews  before  the 
Resurrection  of  Christ  and  the  preaching  of  St.  Paul. 
The  theory  of  visions  may  well  be  dismissed  as  itself 
being  an  hallucination,  originating  in  the  "  fixed  idea " 
that  anything  beyond  the  power  of  the  natural  reason 
of  man  to  explain  must  be  against  reason,  and  there- 
fore impossible. 

The  other  theories  that  attempt  to  account  for  a 
belief  in  the  Resurrection  of  our  Lord  are  now  not  often 
put  forward,  but  it  may  be  well  just  to  glance  at  them. 
The  first  theory  supposes  that  our  Lord  did  not  really 
die  upon  the  Cross,  but  that  He  fainted  and  was  taken 
down  from  the  Cross — everyone  supposing  Him  to  be 
dead.  His  body  was  rapidly  embalmed  and  placed  in 
a  tomb,  the  entrance  to  which  was  blocked  by  a  great 
mass  of  rock.  A  seal  was  placed  on  the  stone,  and 
some  soldiers  were  appointed  to  guard  the  sepulchre  in 
order  to  hinder  anyone  attempting  to  carry  away  the 
body.  In  the  sepulchre  our  Lord — it  is  said — recovered 
from  His  swoon,  and  in  spite  of  having  been  drained  of 
His  blood  by  the  hours  on  the  Cross,  managed  to 
escape  from  the  sealed  tomb  and  elude  the  guards. 
This  theory  does  not  explain  how  it  became  possible 
that  our  Lord  should  have  appeared  dead  to  all  who 
were  concerned  with  the  taking  down  of  His  body  from 
the  Cross  and  carrying  It  to  burial,  and  yet  have  been 
able  to  recover  strength  in  such  a  miraculous  way  as  to 
make  it  possible  for   Him  to  escape   from   the  tomb. 


380  The  Soul  in  the  Unseen   World 

Nor  are  we  told  what  became  of  Jesus  Christ  during 
the  rest  of  His  life,  or  how  it  was  that  after  His 
reported  Ascension  there  is  no  trace  of  Him  to  be 
found  on  earth.  We  should  also  require  some  explana- 
tion why  His  disciples  suddenly  deserted  Him  and 
proceeded  to  invent  the  story  of  His  Resurrection,  and 
how  it  was  that  anyone  of  such  a  lofty  character  as  that 
of  Jesus  Christ  connived  at  their  falsehoods,  by  so 
effectually  concealing  Himself  Again,  the  motive 
which  induced  the  Apostles  to  invent  the  story  of  His 
Resurrection  and  Ascension  must  have  been  a  strong 
one,  for  they  certainly  had  to  endure  persecution  and 
even  death  on  account  of  it.  These  and  other  diffi- 
culties lie  on  the  surface  of  the  story  that  our  Lord 
did  not  really  die,  but  merely  swooned  and  then  re- 
covered. 

The  theory  that  the  Apostles  stole  away  the  body  of 
our  Lord  is  also  one  beset  with  difficulties.  It  was, 
however,  the  only  tale  put  forward  at  the  time  by 
those  who  were  anxious  to  deny  the  Resurrection.  We 
read  that  the  Jews  gave  "  money  unto  the  soldiers, 
saying,  Say  ye.  His  disciples  came  by  night,  and  stole 
Him  away  while  we  slept."  ^  As  the  watch  had  been  set 
on  purpose  to  hinder  any  from  stealing  the  body,  it  is 
difficult  to  conceive  that  the  Apostles,  not  hitherto 
noted  for  their  courage,  came  by  night  (in  the  full  light 
of  the  Paschal  moon)  and,  braving  the  watch,  succeeded 
in  rolling  away  the  stone  and  carrying  off  their  Master's 

.    .  ^  St.  Matt,  xxviii.  12,  13. 


^^ Jesus ^  and  the  Resurrection''  381 

body.  Is  it  likely  that  if  they  had  done  this  no  con- 
fession would  ever  have  been  made  by  any  of  the 
persons  concerned  in  this  fraud  ?  Can  we  suppose  that 
men  who  could  write  such  epistles  as  those  of  St.  Peter 
and  St.  John  were  capable  of  so  gross  an  imposture  as 
to  pretend  Christ  had  risen  from  the  dead,  if  they 
were  all  the  while  conscious  of  having  carried  off  His 
dead  body?  Nor  can  we  evade  the  difficulty  by  sup- 
posing that  the  dead  Christ  was  carried  away  by  some 
persons  in  order  to  deceive  the  Apostles  and  make 
them  think  that  Jesus  Christ  had  arisen.  None  but 
their  enemies  would  have  practised  such  a  deception 
upon  the  Apostles,  and  we  may  be  sure  that  after  the 
Apostles  had  preached  the  Resurrection  these  enemies 
would  have  been  only  too  glad  to  produce  the  dead 
Christ  and  overwhelm  them  with  mockery  and  con- 
tempt. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  no  theory  has  ever  been  put 
forward  that  does  not.  bristle  with  impossibilities.  It 
is,  however,  sometimes  said  that  the  whole  Gospel 
story  is  a  late  invention,  and  that  it  would  be  of  the 
greatest  interest  to  know  what  the  chief  priests  and 
others  really  said  about  the  story  of  the  Resurrection, 
instead  of  what  the  Evangelists  say  they  said.  In 
reply  to  this  we  may  safely  say  that  if  the  chief  priests 
and  others  who  were  interested  in  denying  the  Resurrec- 
tion had  brought  forward  any  other  theory  than  that 
the  Evangelists  mention,  we  should  certainly  have  heard 
of  it.     We  possess  the  writings  of  the  early  Apologists 


382  The  Sottl  m  the   Unseen   World 

for  Christianity,  and  the  fact  that  in  combating  the 
opposition  of  the  Jews  and  Gentiles  they  make  no  men- 
tion of  any  theories,  other  than  those  we  are  famiHar 
with,  put  forward  to  account  for  the  beHef  in  the 
Resurrection  of  our  Lord,  is  a  sufficient  proof  that  no 
such  theories  were  current  at  the  time.  Justin  Martyr, 
^  Irenaeus,  and  the  rest  would  not  have  hoped  to  make 
converts  by  insisting  upon  the  Resurrection  if  they  were 
aware  that  it  had  been  shown  to  be  an  imposture. 
Therefore,  whether  we  accept  or  reject  the  story  given 
by  the  Evangelists,  we  may  be  quite  sure  that  no  other 
story  was  put  forward,  while  the  fact  of  our  Lord's 
Resurrection  was  everywhere  insisted  upon  by  His 
disciples.  The  best  witness  to  the  truth  of  the 
Christian  faith  is  to  be  found  in  its  influence  upon  the 
world.  In  the  long  run  it  is  always  true  that  a  corrupt 
tree  cannot  bring  forth  good  fruit — that  imposture  and 
hallucination  cannot  produce  a  zeal  for  truth  and 
righteousness.  The  fact  remains^  plain  and  unalterable, 
"The  Stone  which  the  builders  refused  is  become" — 
whether  we  like  it  or  no — "the  Head-stone  of  the 
corner."  All  we  can  say  is,  "  This  is  the  Lord's  doing ; 
it  is  marvellous  in  our  eyes."  ^ 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  volume  even  to  touch  on 
the  bearing  of  the  Resurrection  of  our  Lord  upon  Chris- 
tian life  and  hope,  but  it  is  well  once  again  to  draw 
attention  to  the  fact  that  what  revelation  there  is  as  to 
the  future   life   concerns  not  so  much  the  soul  alone 

^  Ps.  cxviii.  22,  23. 


''  Jesus ^  and  the  Resurrection  "  383 

as  the  whole  man.  The  promise  of  the  Gospel  is  that 
"if  the  Spirit  of  Him  that  raised  up  Jesus  from  the 
dead  dwelleth  in  you,  He  that  raised  up  Christ  Jesus 
from  the  dead  shall  quicken  also  your  mortal  bodies, 
because  of  His  Spirit  that  dwelleth  in  you."  ^  Christ 
is  ''the  firstfruits  of  them  that  are  asleep"^— the  witness 
that  they  who  fall  asleep  in  Him  do  not  perish,  but  are 
destined  to  a  full  and  perfect  life  of  which  we  can  here 
form  no  adequate  conception.  The  spirit  is  torn  apart 
from  the  body  by  death,  and  passes  into  the  spiritual 
world  to  be  more  fully  educated,  and  developed,  and 
perfected.  The  natural  body  goes  to  corruption. 
St.  Paul's  assertion  is  sometimes  ignored,  "  Thou  sowest 
not  that  body  that  shall  be."^  The  body  that  is  destined 
to  clothe  the  soul  is  re-fashioned  by  God,  and  we  know 
but  little  about  it  except  that  it  is  not  the  natural  body 
that  is  raised  to  life,  but  a  spiritual  body — adapted  to 
the  new  life,  and  entirely  obedient  to  the  soul.  The 
risen  body  of  our  Lord  was  certainly  in  one  sense  the 
same  body  that  was  laid  in  the  sepulchre,  since  the 
body  that  was  buried  no  longer  remained  there.  And 
yet  it  was  altered,  transfigured,  spiritualised.  Being 
raised  from  the  dead,  it  was  no  longer  capable  of  suffer- 
ing, it  was  impassible.  It  belonged  to  the  spiritual 
kingdom,  and  was  no  longer  subject  to  the  laws  that 
regulate  the  body  in  its  natural  condition.  It  was  en- 
dowed with  a  new  subtilty  which  enabled  it  to  pass  at 

^  Rom.  viii.  ii  (R.V.,  margin).  •  '^  i  Cor.  xv.  20  (R.V.). 

^  I  Cor.  XV.  yj. 


384  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

will  through  the  rock  that  formed  the  door  of  the  tomb, 
and  through  the  closed  doors  of  the  upper  room  where 
the  disciples  were  assembled.  Again,  the  body  of  the 
risen  Lord  was  no  longer  limited  by  the  restrictions 
that  regulate  our  motion  from  place  to  place  ;  hither 
and  thither  He  passed  with  an  agility  quick  as  thought. 
How  far  the  risen  body  of  fallen  man  will  share  in  these 
and  other  attributes  of  the  Resurrection  body  of  Christ 
Jesus  we  cannot  say  positively.  Our  Lord's  body  was 
changed  from  being  a  "  natural  body  "  to  a  "  spiritual 
body  "  some  time  between  His  burial  and  His  Resurrec- 
tion. His  body  never  saw  corruption — He  preserved 
His  personal  identity — but  He  was  so  changed  that 
those  who  had  known  Him  intimately  were  not  at  once 
sure  that  they  beheld  their  Lord.  We  are  evidently 
here  in  the  presence  of  mysteries  that  concern  a  world 
of  which  we  have  as  yet  no  experience  and  but  little 
revelation.  All  we  can  perhaps  say  is  that,  although 
our  material  perishable  body  will  be  laid  in  the  grave 
and  become  a  prey  to  corruption,  we  too,  like  our  Lord, 
shall  be  raised  in  incorruption,  and  our  identity  will  be 
retained,  though  our  body  will  certainly  not  be  com- 
posed of  the  same  decaying  matter  that  was  buried — • 
"  Thou  sowest  not  that  body  that  shall  be."  St.  Paul 
would  lead  us  to  suppose  that  when  we  awake  we  shall 
be  found  in  the  likeness  of  Christ ;  for  he  says :  "  Our 
conversation  is  in  heaven  ;  from  whence  also  we  look 
for  the  Saviour,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ :  Who  shall 
change  our  vile  body,  that  it  may  be  fashioned   like 


''Jesus,  and  the  Resm^rection''  385 

unto  His  glorious  body,  according  to  the  working 
whereby  He  is  able  even  to  subdue  all  things  unto 
Himself."! 

What  the  conditions  of  that  new  life  will  be  we  can- 
not guess — we  shall  be  "  like  unto  the  angels,"  and  the 
angels  are  ever  in  Holy  Writ  shown  to  us  as  engaged 
in  the  worship  of  God  through  the  service  of  men. 
Even  here  on  earth — when  mind  and  body  are  filled 
with  health,  and  man  is  surrounded  by  congenial  friends 
and  his  affections  fully  satisfied — great  happiness  is 
possible ;  who  can  say  what  increase  of  happiness 
may  be  ours  when  all  that  mars  the  soul  and  hampers 
the  body  is  removed,  when  every  faculty  is  perfected 
and  every  desire  is  capable  of  being  completely 
satisfied  ?  Here  on  earth  even  the  most  highly  gifted — 
thirsting  for  knowledge  as  they  may,  and  finding  in 
its  increase  the  keenest  pleasure — can  but  imperfectly 
master  one  or  two  branches  of  learning ;  what,  then, 
shall  be  their  joy  "when  that  which  is  perfect  is  come," 
when  they  know  no  longer  in  part,  but  even  as  they 
are  known — perfectly,  intimately,  absolutely  ! 

And  then  again,  how  great  is  the  happiness  brought 
to  man  here  oh  earth  through  the  affections.  Love 
is  the  master-passion  of  the  soul,  but,  after  all,  it  is 
never  without  alloy,  never  without  the  fear  of  loss, 
through  death  or  through  something  worse  than  death. 
But  hereafter  love  will  also  be  made  perfect.  Faith 
and  hope  will  not  be  needed,  but  love  will  remain  and 

*  Phil.  iii.  20,  21. 
2  C  • 


386  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen   World 

be  intensified,  for  love  is  eternal,  since  God  is  Love. 
But  here  we  can  go  no  further.  There  is  little,  if 
anything,  in  Holy  Scripture  to  encourage  that  view 
of  the  next  life  which  too  often  is  almost  exclusively 
dwelt  upon.  There  is  next  to  nothing  said  about  the 
continuance  hereafter  of  those  ties  of  affection  which 
have  been  formed  on  earth.  One  thing  is  certain :  all 
that  is  essential  to  perfect  happiness  will  be  the  portion 
of  those  who  attain  to  that  world  and  the  new  life  of 
the  children  of  the  resurrection.  The  Word  of  God, 
however,  leads  us  to  look  for  this  complete  satisfaction 
in  God  rather  than  in  creatures.  As  we  are  taught  that 
identity,  memory,  and  consciousness  are  all  retained 
hereafter,  there  is  indeed  every  reason  to  believe  that 
in  the  next  world  we  shall  find  again  those  whom  we 
have  "  loved  long  since  .and  lost  awhile,"  but  so  little 
does  this  reunion  belong  to  the  essential  beatitude  of 
the  life  of  the  world  to  come  that  it  is  quite  ignored 
in  Holy  Scripture.  The  bliss  of  the  redeemed  is 
everywhere  represented  as  resulting  from  the  fact  that 
they  "  see  God,"  are  "  with  Christ,"  and  filled  with  the 
joy  of  their  Lord.  In  our  present  life — so  little  capable 
as  we  are  of  knowing,  loving,  and  serving  God — this 
may  sound  cold  and  unsatisfying,  but  dare  we  add  to 
the  Word  of  God,  and  for  the  sake  of  "  comfort "  turn 
.to  other  and  lower  objects  ?  Not  till  we  "  see  God " 
shall  we  know  Him,  and  till  we  know  Him  we  cannot 
know  how  great  may  be  the  satisfaction  found  in  loving 
Him, 


^^  Jesus,  and  the  Resurrection^^  'i^'^'] 

We  know  that  in  this  life  there  are  various  de- 
grees of  intensity  in  love.  Father  and  mother  and 
friends  are  all  left  in  order  that  a  man  may  cleave 
to  his  wife.  He  does  not  cease  to  love  them — far 
otherwise — but  neither  their  tears  nor  their  anger  will 
hold  him  back  from  the  influence  of  the  newer  and 
stronger  passion.  Some  such  love  as  this  our  Lord 
certainly  claimed :  "  If  any  man  come  to  Me,  and  hate 
not  his  father,  and  mother,  and  wife,  and  children,  and 
brethren,  and  sisters,  yea,  and  his  own  life  also,  he 
cannot  be  My  disciple."  ^  It  is  not  for  a  moment  to 
be  supposed  our  Lord  meant  in  any  way  to  weaken 
the  legitimate  ties  of  human  love;  on  the  contrary. 
He  made  love  for  one  another,  duty  to  parents,  and 
loyal  friendship,  supreme  tests  of  discipleship.  In  His 
filial  love  and  reverence  for  Mary  His  Mother,  in  His 
care  for  His  disciples,  and  in  His  special  particular 
friendship  with  St.  John,  our  Lord  hallowed  human 
love :  in  this,  as  in  other  respects.  He  left  us  an 
example  that  we  should  follow  in  His  steps.  What 
He  apparently  meant  was  that  the  love  of  God  must 
take  precedence  of  all  other.  Hereafter,  therefore, 
when  God  is  "  all  in  all,"  ^  and  is  known  not  in  part 
but  perfectly,  it  may  well  be  that  even  the  strongest 
and  holiest  ties  formed  on  earth  will  be  found  un- 
satisfying, or  rather  that  they  can  only  meet  in  God 
and  be  satisfied.  Was  it  not  with  some  meaning  of 
this    kind    that   our   Lord    said :    "  In   the  resurrection 

^  St.  Luke  xiv.  26,  ^  j  Cor.  xv.  28. 


388  The  Soul  in  the   Unseen  World 

they  neither  marry,  nor  are  given  in  marriage,  but 
are  as  the  angels  of  God  in  heaven "  ?  ^  All  that  in 
the  ties  of  love  formed  on  earth  is  capable  of  adding 
to  our  beatitude  hereafter  will  doubtless  be  preserved, 
but  the  Word  of  God — full  as  that  Word  is  of  the 
sanctity  of  human  love — does  not  warrant  us  in  looking 
upon  these  ties,  apart  from  God,  as  forming  the  essential 
beatitude  of  the  risen  life.  His  promise  is :  "  Thine 
eyes  shall  see  the  King  in  His  beauty"  ;2  and  His 
Apostle  assures  us  that  "  when  He  shall  appear,  we 
shall  be  like  Him  ;  for  we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is."^ 
How  this  can  satisfy  the  soul  we  may  not  now — earth- 
bound  as  we  are — be  able  to  conceive,  but  that  it  will 
do  so  we  are  sure.  It  is  not  in  the  things  we  have 
seen  and  known  here  below,  or  in  the  affections  which 
have  here  possessed  our  hearts,  that  we  shall  hereafter 
find  all  we  need,  but  in  the  things  of  which  we  are 
now  altogether  unable  to  form  any  adequate  conception. 
"  Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  have  entered 
into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things  which  God  hath 
prepared  for  them  that  love  Him."  * 

It  is  enough  for  us,  is  it  not,  to  know  that  by  the  love 
we  bear  towards  one  another  on  earth — by  love  of 
parents,  wife,  children,  and  friends — we  are  preparing 
for  the  eternal  love  of  Him  in  Whom  all  live  and  move 
and  have  their  being, — and  in  Whom  we  shall  find 
hereafter  all  that  we  have  trusted  to  Him  here  on  earth? 

^  St.  Matt.  xxii.  30.  ^  Isa.  xxxiii.  17. 

'^  I  St.  John  iii.  2.  ^  I  Cor.  ii.  9. 


''Jesus,  and  the  Resurrection^^  389 

We  can  learn  to  say  with  the  great  Apostle,  "  I  know 
Whom  I  have  trusted  (believed),  and  am  persuaded  that 
He  is  able  to  keep  that  which  I  have  committed  unto 
Him  against  that  day.  .  .  /'^  "Blessed  be  the  God 
and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  according 
to  His  abundant  mercy  hath  begotten  us  again  unto 
a  lively  hope  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from 
the  dead,  to  an  inheritance  incorruptible  and  undefiled, 
and  that  fadeth  not  away,  reserved  in  heaven  for  you."^ 
With  the  thought  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  we 
reach  the  conclusion  of  our  subject — the  intermediate 
state  of  the  soul.  That  state  begins  when  the  soul  is 
separated  from  the  body  by  death :  it  ends  when  death 
is  swallowed  up  in  victory  and  the  body  and  soul  are 
reunited  for  eternal  life.  We  have  seen  what  is  the 
hope  for  the  departed  that — taken  as  a  whole — the 
Church  has  entertained  from  the  first.  It  is  summed 
up  in  the  words  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Philippians,  where  he 
says  that  he  is  "confident  of  this  very  thing,  that  He 
which  hath  begun  a  good  work  in  you  will  perfect  it 
until  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ."  The  perfecting  of  the 
spirit  may  be  soon  accomplished,  but  the  whole  man 
will  only  be  perfected  when  death  is  overcome  and  man 
is  made  whole  in  the  resurrection. 

"  Soul  and  body  reunited, 
Thenceforth  nothing  shall  divide, 
Waking  up  in  Christ's  own  likeness 
Satisfied." 

1  2  Tim.  i.  12.  "I  St.  Peter  i.  3,  4. 


APPENDIX 

^be  Doctiine  of  tbe  ©rtbo^oy 
leaetern  Cburcb 


APPENDIX   TO   CHAPTER   XIII.  . 

XTbe  Boctttne  of  tbe  ©ttboboj  :6a9tern  Cbuvcb 

SIIsICE  this  volume  was  sent  to  the  press  the  perennial 
controversy  as  to  the  teaching  of  the  Holy  Eastern 
Church  has  been  renewed  in  the  columns  of  one  of  the 
Church  newspapers.  I  do  not  think  that  anything  has  been 
said  which  would  make  it  necessary  for  me  to  alter  what  I 
have  written  in  this  volume  as  to  the  Eastern  doctrine  con- 
cerning the  souls  in  the  Intermediate — disembodied — State. 
In  my  book  Tke  Soul  Here  and  Hereafter  (1898)  I  stated 
what  I  still  believe  to  be  the  truth,  namely,  that  the  Primitive 
Liturgies  represent  the  unsettled  eschatology  of  the  Early 
Church,  while  the  Orthodox  Confession^  the  eighteenth 
decree  of  the  Synod  of  Bethlehem,  and  the  teaching  of  such 
a  first-rate  theologian  as  the  Russian  Bishop  Macarius,  repre- 
sent the  doctrine  that  was  popular  in  the  Church  during  the 
Middle  Ages,  and  prevailed  both  in  the  East  and  West  until 
about  the  time  of  the  Council  of  Florence,  1439.  This 
doctrine  was  not  a  novelty.  It  was  in  substance  the  belief 
of  those  among  the  ancient  Greeks,  Romans,  and  Jews  who 
believed  in  the  survival  of  the  soul  and  future  rewards  and 
punishments.  The  doctrine  was  apparently  held  as  an 
opinion  by  one  or  two  of  the  Fathers.  It  cannot  be  said, 
however,  to  have  been  taught  at  all  generally,  or  as  other 
than  an  opinion.  During  the  Middle  Ages,  when  the  tone 
of  Primitive  teaching  had  been  in  a  great  measure  forgotten, 

393 


394  Appendix 

the  belief  referred  to  was  very  generally  accepted,  and  it  is 
this  doctrine,  I  believe,  that  the  Eastern  Church  has  officially 
maintained,  although  she  has  never  explicitly  defined  it  as  a 
dogma  to  be  held  by  all  her  children.  Consequently  there 
are,  doubtless,  very  many  in  the  modern  Eastern  Church 
who  hold  other  opinions.  The  horror  of  the  mediaeval 
doctrine  expressed  by  some  Anglicans  and  their  refusal  to 
allow  that  any  such  belief  is  taught  in  the  Eastern  Church, 
in  spite  of  the  plain  words  of  her  theologians,  only  serves 
to  remind  us  of  the  gulf  that  separates  the  theology  of  this 
century  from  that  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and,  indeed,  from  the 
opinions  of  some  of  the  Fathers.  To  the  modern  mind  it 
may  seem  "  fiendish  "  to  suppose  that  souls  destined  eventually 
for  Heaven  should  be  detained  in  Hell,  or  in  a  Purgatory  that 
is  "  Hell "  in  all  but  the  name.  To  the  theologians  of  the 
eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  however,  the  thought  was  not 
so  uncongenial.  The  Eastern  Church  is  proverbially  con- 
servative, but  nevertheless  much  that  she  jealously  guards 
is  not  representative  of  the  tone  of  the  Primitive  Church. 
Her  theologians  strongly  reject  the  developments  of  modern 
Rome,  but  they  equally  strongly  defend  doctrines  and 
practices  that  were  developed — though  not  originated — 
between  the  fifth  and  twelfth  centuries.  For  instance,  at 
the  Bonn  Conference,  1874,  the  Greeks  refused  to  assent  to 
the  following  thesis  proposed  by  Dollinger:  "We  acknowledge 
that  the  invocation  of  saints  is  not  commanded  as  a  duty 
necessary  to  salvation  for  every  Christian."  Any  enlightened 
modern  Roman  theologian  would  assent  to  this  proposition, 
but  not  so  the  Greeks.  Archpriest  Janyschew  replied,  "The 
invocation  of  saints  has  been  in  all  ages  a  prevailing  and 
universally  diffused  practice  in  the  Church,  and  we  have  no 
reason  to  oppose  the  practice."  Rhossis  declared  the  "  thesis 
seems   to   contradict   the   decrees   of    the    seventh    General 


Doctrine  of^  the  Orthodox  Eastern  Church  395 

Council  on  the  Invocation  of  Saints."  In  spite  of  all 
explanation  the  Orthodox  rejected  the  thesis.  They  refused, 
as  Janyschew  said,  to  "discriminate  between  a  duty  and  a 
practice  recommended  by  the  Church."  I  do  not,  of  course, 
maintain  that  the  invocation  of  saints  is  merely  a  mediaeval 
practice.  It  dates  from  the  Church  of  the  great  Fathers 
(see  p.  189),  but  the  mental  attitude  of  the  Greeks  at  Bonn 
in  regard  to  this  was  characteristic  rather  of  the  twelfth 
than  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

As  to  the  main  point  of  controversy  in  the  Greek  teaching 
about  the  souls  in  the  intermediate  state,  we  must  go  back 
to  the  centuries  before  the  Council  of  Florence  for  guidance. 
At  that  time  it  was  commonly  held  that,  speaking  generally, 
the  Unseen  World  was  composed  of  two  states,  Heaven 
and  Hell.  According  to  the  belief  of  the  pre-Christian 
religions  of  Greece  and  Rome,  and  that  held  by  some  of 
the  Jews,  Hell  was  thought  of  as  a  place  where  some  souls 
were  temporarily  punished,  and  others  eternally.  The 
Latins,  about  the  time  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas  (1224-74), 
taught  that  there  is  a  middle  place  between  Heaven  and  Hell, 
called  Purgatory,  in  which  the  souls  of  the  penitent  but  sin- 
stained  are  kept  apart  from  the  damned,  and  purified.  The 
Greeks  rejected  this  innovation,  and  officially  they  have  kept 
to  the  older  belief  popular  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

It  is  really  throwing  dust  in  people's  eyes  for  controver- 
sialists to  try  and  harmonise  the  more  authoritative  Greek 
teaching  with  the  latest  and  most  mild  theories  of  modern 
Anglican  eschatology.  As  I  have  said,  the  Greek  and  Roman 
doctrine  is  essentially  (as  Macarius  allows)  much  the  same, 
and  to  the  mediaeval  mind  was  by  no  means  so  horrible  as 
it  seems  to  the  fastidious  taste  of  the  twentieth  century. 
What  the  Greeks  reject  now,  as  formerly,  is  the  Latin 
innovation  of  Purgatory  as  a  middle  place.    The  old-fashioned 


39^  Appendix 

Romanist  Bishop  Hayes  wrote,  "This  place  [Purgatory] 
cannot  be  heaven,  for  in  heaven  there  can  be  no  suffering. 
It  cannot  be  hell,  for  out  of  hell  there  is  no  redemption,  and 
those  who  die  in  a  state  of  grace  cannot  be  condemned  for 
ever ;  therefore  //  must  be  a  middle  place  distinct  from  both." 
Anyone  who  compares  this  statement  with  Macarius'  teaching 
in  his  Observation  sur  le  Purgatoire  will  see  what  he  denies. 

"  II  n'y  a  pas  un  lieu  particulier  intermediare  ou  se  trouvent 
et  font  I'objet  des  prieres  de  I'Eglise  les  ames  de  ceux  qui 
firent  pe'nitence  avant  leur  mort ;  toutes  ces  ames  vont  en 
enfer,  d'ou  elles  ne  peuvent  etre  tirees  que  par  ses  prieres."  ^ 

Words  could  hardly  more  plainly  teach  the  belief  once 
held  by  the  ancient  Jews,  Greeks,  Romans,  and  hinted  at 
by  St.  John  Chrysostom,  a  belief  shared  by  the  Latin  Church 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  before  the  theory  of  Purgatory  as  a 
distinct  place  was  developed.  The  belief  that  the  damned 
pass  at  once  to  Hell  is  still  taught  in  the  Latin  Church, 
and  Purgatory  is  frequently  made  to  differ  from  Hell  in 
nothing  but  the  name.  There  is,  therefore,  no  reason  to 
suppose  that  the  authoritative  documents  of  the  Eastern 
Church  were  intended  to  teach  that  "  Hell "  or  "  Heaven  " 
are  closed  until  the  day  of  resurrection.  Their  teaching  is 
not  compatible — any  more  than  the  Latin  doctrine — with 
such  a  belief.  It  is,  however,  quite  true  that  in  both 
Heaven  and  Hell  the  Greeks  teach  that  there  are  degrees 
of  glory  or  pain.  The  souls  of  the  damned  are  neces- 
sarily in  a  worse  state  than  those  of  the  penitent,  since 
the  latter  have  the  knowledge  of  their  final  salvation  and  a 
growing  sense  of  their  approaching  deliverance  from  Hades. 

^  "  There  is  no  special  intermediate  place  where  those  who  become 
penitent  before  death  find  themselves,  and  are  the  object  of  the  Church's 
prayers ;  all  such  souls  go  to  Hell  [Hades],  from  which  they  can  only 
be  delivered  by  her  prayers." 


Doctrine  of  the  Oi^thodox  Eastern  Church    397 

This  seems  what  Theodoret  meant  when  he  said,  "There  is 
one  Ades  to  all,  but  light  to  some,  dark  to  others."  An 
author  in  Suidas  says  that  "in  Ades  it  must  needs  be  well 
with  some,  worse  with  others." 

As  to  the  Beatific  Vision  the  Greeks  are  not  clear  if  it  is 
granted  before  the  resurrection.  They  seem  to  prefer  the 
statement  that  the  souls  of  the  perfected  righteous  enjoy 
(in  Heaven  before  their  final  reward)  the  sight  of  Jesus 
Christ.^  The  following  quotation  from  the  Longer  Catechism^ 
by  the  late  enlightened  Metropolitan  of  Moscow  —  His 
Holiness  Philaret — may  be  quoted  here.  Philaret  represents 
the  modern  school  of  Easterns  rather  than  that  which  finds 
expression  in  the  more  authoritative  and  official  documents, 
such  as  those  of  the  Synod  of  Bethlehem. 

"  Question.  In  what  condition  are  the  souls  of  the  departed 
until  the  general  resurrection?  Answer:  The  souls  of  the 
just  are  in  light  and  peace,  and  enjoy  a  foretaste  of  everlasting 
bliss ;  but  the  souls  of  the  sinful  are  in  a  condition  the  reverse 
of  this.  Q.  Why  do  not  the  souls  of  the  just  enjoy  the 
consummation  of  their  bliss  immediately  after  death? 
A.  Because  it  has  been  foreordained  that  the  full  recom- 
pense of  the  whole  man  shall  be  delayed  until  the  resurrection 
of  the  body  and  the  last  Judgment  (2  Tim.  iv.  8;  2  Cor. 
v.  10).  Q.  Does  this  foretaste  of  bliss  include  the  actual 
vision  of  Jesus  Christ  Himself?  A.  It  does  so,  especially 
in  the  case  of  the  saints,  for  St.  Paul  seems  to  imply  as  much 
when  he  says,  '  I  have  a  desire  to  depart  and  to  be  with 
Christ'  (Phil.  i.  23).  Q.  What  may  be  remarked  of  such 
souls  as  have  departed  with  faith,  but  without  having  had 

^  Macarius,  however,  says  that  the  disembodied  righteous  "see  God 
face  to  face."  In  speaking  of  the  reward  granted  after  the  resurrection  he 
repeats  this,  and  adds,  "/is  seul  ei  vrai  Dieu  dans  sa  triple  hypostase.^^ 
See  p.  401, 


1 


gS  Appendix 


time  to  bring  forth  fruits  worthy  of  repentance?  A.  This: 
that  they  may  be  aided  towards  the  attainment  of  a  blessed 
resurrection  by  prayers  offered  in  their  behalf,  especially 
such  as  are  offered  in  union  with  the  Oblation  of  the 
Bloodless  Sacrifice  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ,  and 
by  works  of  mercy  done  in  faith  for  their  memory.  Q.  On 
what  is  this  doctrine  founded?  A.  On  the  constant 
tradition  of  the  Catholic  Church  ...  St.  Basil  the  Great,  in 
his  prayer  for  Pentecost,  says  that  the  Lord  vouchsafes  to 
receive  from  us  propitiatory  prayers  and  sacrifices  for  those 
that  are  kept  in  Hades,  and  allows  us  the  hope  of  obtaining 
for  them  peace,  relief,  and  freedom"  (pp.  98-100). 

The    Latin    version    of    the    Orthodox     Confession     (see 
p.   268)  speaks  of  what  Macarius  calls  "the  place  of  grief 
and  pain,"  i.e.  Hades,  by  the  names  of  Orciis  and  Acheron^ 
names    that    are    familiar    to   us   in    the   classics   of    pagan 
antiquity,  and  confirm  the  statement  that  the  Greeks  think 
of  Hades   as   including    "Hell."     I  need  hardly  say  I  am 
not   here   concerned   with   the   question   as   to   whether   the 
Orthodox   teaching   is   true   or   false.     I    merely   state   it   to 
the   best  of  my  ability,   while   quite   acknowledging   that   it 
is  not  de  fide  in  the  Eastern  Church,  and  is  not  in  all  its 
details  accepted  by  many  of  her  children  at  the  present  day. 
Those   who   read   my  volume  will   gather  from   it  that   my 
sympathies   are  with   the   primitive   school   rather   than   the 
mediaeval,  but  I  think  it  a  mistake  to  ignore  the  gulf  that 
divides  the  one  from  the  other,  or  to  try  and  read  into  the 
documents  of  the  Eastern  Church  a  perfectly  uniform  teach- 
ing when  it  cannot  be  denied  that  ever  since  the  Council 
of  Florence  there  have  been  two  schools — the  one  primitive 
in  tone,  the  other  tinged  with  mediaeval  Latinism.     My  own 
belief  is   that   the   more   official   documents   of  the   Greeks 
represent   the   mediaeval   school.      This   is,   I  think,   proved 


Doctrine  of  the  Orthodox  Eastern  Chttrch    399 

by  the  modification  of  statements  in  the  Russ  version  of  the 
decree  of  the  Synod  of  Bethlehem  as  to  Transubstantia- 
tion,  and  in  the  eighteenth  decree  on  the  intermediate  state. 
Dr.  Neale,  speaking  of  the  omission  in  the  Russ  of  some 
words  in  this  latter  decree,  says,  "This  is  clearly  omitted 
by  the  Russian  Church  to  avoid  defining  that  there  is  a 
local  place  of  punishment ;  as  'Koivy]  is  changed  to  prevent 
the  affirmation  that  this  punishment  is  properly  penal  or 
expiatory  "  (see  Neale's  History  of  the  Holy  Eastern  Churchy 
General  Introduction,  vol.  ii.  p.  11 77). 

As  the  teaching  of  Macarius  has  been  disputed,  the  follow- 
ing resume  of  that  part  which  refers  to  the  disembodied  soul 
may  be  useful.  The  reader  is  however  urged  to  refer  to  the 
volume  itself,  if  possible. 

The  Theologie  Dogmatiqiie^  by  Macarius  (see  p.  271),  is  based 
entirely  upon  the  authoritative  documents  of  the  Eastern 
Church,  such  as  the  Decrees  of  the  Synod  of  Bethlehem  (or 
Jerusalem,  as  it  is  sometimes  called)  and  the  Orthodox  Confes- 
sion (see  p.  270).  His  Eschatology  occupies  186  pp.  of  vol.  ii. 
(pp.  623-809),  He  begins  with  an  account  of  the  Particular 
Judgment,  called  the  Telonies  (douanes).  This  elaborate  judg- 
ment, he  says,  is  not  to  be  taken  quite  literally  but  spiritually. 
"  Nous  devons  nous  representer  les  telonies,  non  point  dans  un 
sens  grossier  et  sensuel,  mais,  autant  que  possible,  dans  un  sens 
spirituel"  (p.  641).  We  must  remember  that  ^ho,  particular 
judgment  is  that  in  which  each  particular  soul  is  judged  at 
death,  and  not  confuse  it  with  the  general  judgment.  Macarius 
then  discusses  the  "  retribution  of  the  just  after  the  particular 
judgment."  He  insists  here — and  repeatedly  throughout  the 
whole  of  this  section — upon  the  fact  that  the  departed  are 
neither  perfectly  and  completely  rewarded  nor  punished  until 
after  the  resurrection  and  general  judgment,  for  the  reason 
that  the  soul  apart  from  the  body  is  not  the  complete  human 


400  •  Appendix 

being.  The  resurrection  of  the  body  increases  either  the  joy 
or  sorrow  of  the  soul.  He  continues,  "Thus  the  Orthodox 
Church  teaches  a  twofold  retribution  after  the  particular 
judgment :  the  one  for  the  just,  the  other  for  sinners,  although 
both  are  incomplete,  not  definitive." 

The  next  section  (§252)  is  headed,  ''''Retribution  of  the  just: 
1°  Their  glorification  in  heaven  (dans  le  del),  in  the  Church 
triumphant:  2°  their  glorification  on  earth  in  the  Church 
militant.  Veneration  of  the  Saints ^  According  to  Macarius 
"  the  just "  are  those  whom  the  Western  Church  would  call 
either  "  saints "  or  "  perfectly  righteous."  They  are  repre- 
sented as  passing  straight  to  Heaven — the  Church  Triumphant. 
Macarius  writes :  "As  to  the  place  [where  the  just  are]  it  is 
called  both  in  Holy  Writ  and  the  writings  of  the  Fathers 
'Paradise'  (Luke  xxiii.  43),  'Abraham's  Bosom'  (Luke  xvi. 
22),  'the  Kingdom  of  Heaven'  (Matt.  v.  3,  10 ;  viii.  11),  'the 
Kingdom  of  God'  (Luke  xiii.  28,  29),  'the  house  of  the 
heavenly  Father'  (John  xiv.  2),  'the  city  of  the  living  God,' 
'  the  heavenly  Jerusalem  '  (Heb.  xii.  22  ;  Gal.  iv.  26) "  (p.  646). 
He  then  says  that  any  of  these  names  may  be  employed  if 
only  it  is  always  kept  in  mind  that  they  mean  Heaven.  He 
says  this  because  "a  few  writers  make  some  distinction 
between  Paradise,  Abraham's  Bosom,  and  Heaven  itself." 
Macarius  adopts  no  such  distinction.  He  refers  to  it  as  a 
private  opinion.  "Some  ancient  doctors  have  thought  that 
the  souls  of  the  just  await  the  resurrection  of  the  body  not 
in  Heaven,  but  strictly  (proprement)  in  the  bosom  of  Abraham, 
in  Paradise,  which  they  look  upon  only  as  the  vestibule  of 
Heaven.  This  is  merely  their  private  opinion  .  .  .  (c'etait  la 
chez  eux  une  opinion  particuliere  .  .  ."  (p.  651). 

Macarius  says,  "  As  to  the  felicity  of  the  souls  of  the  just  in 
Heaven  (dans  le  ciel),  it  differs  doubtless  according  to  the 
merit  of  each.     Its  characteristics  are,  to  rest  from  labour 


Doctrine  of  the  Orthodox  Eastern  Church   40 1 

(Heb.  iv.  3,  11;  Rev.  xiv.  13) ;  ...  to  be  in  relation  and 
communion  with  innumerable  companies  of  angels ;  to  stand 
before  the  throne  of  the  Lamb,  to  glorify  and  to  serve  Him ; 
to  live  and  reign  with  Jesus  Christ  (2  Tim.  ii.  1 1,  12),  and  above 
all  to  see  God  'face  to  face'  (voir  enfin  Dieu  'face  a  face')  (i  Cor. 
xiii.  12;  2  Cor.  v.  8  ;  Heb.  xii.  14)."  He  quotes  St.  Gregory  the 
Theologian,  who  says  the  soul  contemplates  "  the  most  pure 
and  most  perfect  splendour  of  the  Most  High  Trinity"  (pp. 
647-8).  This  seems  very  like  the  "  Beatific  Vision  "  of  the 
Latin  theologians,  though,  in  speaking  of  the  just  both  before 
and  after  the  resurrection,  Macarius  does  not  ever,  I  think,  use 
this  expression.  He  does  not  teach  that  there  is  any  more 
perfect  vision  of  God  after  the  resurrection  than  before,  though 
he  does,  of  course,  as  I  have  said,  teach  that  the  sight  of  God 
is  a  greater  reward  after  the  resurrection  as  it  is  then  enjoyed 
by  the  whole  man,  not  by  the  soul  only.  That  by  "  the  just " 
Macarius  means  chiefly  the  "  saints  "  is  clear,  because  he  goes 
on  to  speak  of  "  the  just "  as  those  whom  the  Church  on  earth 
venerates  and  invokes ;  in  whose  honour  she  builds  churches, 
whose  relics  and  images  she  esteems. 

Having  now  briefly  sketched  what  Macarius  says  of  "  the 
just"  who  pass  straight  to  Heaven  at  their  death,  we  turn 
to  the  section  on  the  second  of  his  two  classes  of  souls,  and 
find  it  is  entitled,  "  The  retribution  of  sinners :  i°  their  punish- 
ment in  Hades  {Tenfer^r  He  says,  "  The  souls  of  sinners  pass 
at  once  after  death  and  the  particular  judgment  into  a  place 
of  sorrow  and  affliction.  .  .  .  Little  can  be  said  as  to  the 
place  where  these  souls  go,  or  as  to  their  torments.  The 
place  is  called  in  Holy  Scripture  and  ancient  authors  by 
the  following  names :  '  Hades '  (I'enfer)  (Luke  xvi.  23 ;  Acts 
ii.  31),  the  'outer  darkness'  (Matt.  xxii.  13,  xxv.  30,  46), 
.  .  .  'the  abyss'  (Luke  viii.  31)  .  .  .  '  Gehenna^  (Matt.  v.  22, 
x.  28),  *  the  furnace  of  fire '  (Matt,  xiii.  50),  and  by  other 
2  D 


402  ^  Appendix 

names,  all  expressing  the  same  idea,  that  of  a  place  destined 
for  the  souls  who  have  departed  hence  weighted  with  sins, 
the  place  of  condemnation  and  divine  wrath.  As  to  the 
locality  of  Hades  or  Gehenna,  there  are  only  private  opinions." 
He  then  goes  on  to  speak  of  the  torments  of  these  sinners 
in  Gehenna,  and  quotes  an  author  who  says  that  one  of  their 
griefs  is  "la  vue  continuelle  du  diable  et  sa  societe."  The 
punishments  in  Hell  vary,  and  "one  may  suppose  there  are 
in  Hell  (enfer)  special  abodes,  prisons,  or  sections.  One  of 
these  is  called  Hades,  another  Gehenna,  a  third  Tartarus,  a 
fourth  the  lake  of  fire  ^^  He  again  repeats  that  these  torments 
are  incomplete  until  the  body  shares  in  them.  The  souls 
of  sinners  are  "in  the  company  of  the  evil  and  damned 
spirits"  (lis  sont  dans  la  societe  des  esprits  maUns,  reprouve's) 
(p.  701). 

This  agrees  with  the  Orthodox  Confession,  Question  68, 
"Where  is  the  place  of  those  souls  who  leave  their  bodies 
under  the  displeasure  of  God?  Many  names  are  given  to 
that  place.  It  is  called  Hades,  unto  which  the  Devil,  when 
thrust  out  of  Heaven,  was  driven.  .  .  .  To  this  place  go  down 
the  souls  of  all  those  who  die  at  enmity  with  God  and  under 
His  wrath ;  and  here  they  are  damned."  The  original  Greek 
is  :  YipQ>Tov  ovo/Jid^eTai  0.87^9,  ets  ruv  ottolov  air lacrdrjKev  6 
Sid^oXos.  .  .  .  Hades  therefore  in  Greek  theology  is  simply 
"  Hell " — the  place  in  which  are  the  souls  of  all  sinners,  and 
the  Devil  and  his  angels. 

After  discussing  this  place,  the  opposite  of  Heaven,  Macarius 
heads  his  next  section  (§258.  2°),  ^'■Possibility,  for  certain 
sinners  to  obtain  refreshtnent  and  even  deliverance  from  the 
punishments  of  Hell  {chdtiments  de  re?ifet\  by  means  of  the 
prayers  of  the  Church.'"  He  begins  thus :  "In  teaching, 
however,  that  after  death  and  the  particular  judgment  all 
sinners  pass  equally  into  Hell,  the  place  of  grief  and  pain 


Doctrine  of  the  Oi^thodox  Eastern  Church    403 

(tous  les  pecheurs  passent  egalement  dans  I'enfer,  sejour  de 
tristesse  et  d'affliction),  the  Orthodox  Church  professes  that 
for  those  who,  before  death,  were  penitent,  but  had  no  time  to 
bring  forth  worthy  fruits  of  repentance  .  .  .  there  remains 
the  possibility  of  obtaining  a  refreshment  from  pain,  and  even 
a  complete  escape  from  the  chains  of  Hades."  This  they  can 
obtain  by  no  repentance,  or  merit  of  their  own,  but  only 
by  the  prayers  of  the  Church.  Macarius  suggests  that  the 
sufferings  of  the  penitent  may  be  less  than  those  of  the 
reprobate,  and  even  that  there  may  be  in  Hades  "plusieurs 
demeures  et  des  retributions  dififerentes,"  but  he  insists  upon 
there  being  no  distinct  place  in  Hades  for  the  penitent  apart 
from  the  damned  and  the  devils.  Of  such  a  distinct  place  he 
says,  "  Nous  ne  le  saurions,  parce  que  I'Eglise  n'admet  point 
d'etat  intermediaire  pour  les  ames  apres  la  mort,  point  de 
troisieme  lieu  entre  le  ciel  et  I'enfer  ou  la  Gehenne,"  i.e.  the 
Eastern  Church,  as  I  have  said  already  (p.  396),  admits  no 
intermediate  place  such  as  Purgatory  "between  Heaven  and 
Hades  or  Gehenna." 

This  Macarius  repeats  with  emphasis  in  the  next  section 
on  "  Purgatory  "  (see  p.  272  for  quotation),  and  asserts  that  the 
chief  difference  between  his  Communion  and  the  Church  of 
Rome  is  on  the  doctrine  of  Purgatory  being  a  place  distinct 
from  "  Hell "  (Gehenna),  and  upon  the  question  of  temporal 
punishment ;  the  Easterns  deny  that  temporal  punishment  is 
endured  in  Hades.  After  the  resurrection  Macarius  teaches 
that  the  soul  will  receive  an  increase  of  joy  or  pain  through 
its  reunion  with  the  body,  and  consequently  until  the  resur- 
rection man  is  not  completely  {i.e.  as  a  whole)  rewarded  or 
punished.  His  soul  is,  however,  before  the  resurrection  either 
in  Heaven — which  is  called  by  many  names — or  in  Hell,  which 
is  called  by  many  names.  There  is  no  intermediate  place  for 
souls. 


INDEX 


Abraham's  Bosom,  and  Paradise, 
156-60,  237,  275 

Achilles  and  Patroklos,  105 

Advent,  Second,  176 

iEonian,  149,  150 

"AiS-qs,  140,  142  (notes) 

Akiba,  Rabbi,  125,  128 

Alford,  Dean,  177 

Altars,  privileged,  origin  and  mean- 
ing of,  319  ;  utility,  321 

Anacreon,  literary  epitaph  on,  96 

Ancestor  worship,  Israelite,  68 

Anglican  Communion,  teaching 
of,  as  to  intermediate  state,  356  ; 
as  to  authority  of  Church  and 
Holy  Scripture,  329-33  ;  appeal 
of,  to  Fathers,  332 

Annihilation,  132 

Anthology,  the  Palatine,  94 

Apocrypha  (see  Deutero-canonical 
Books) 

Apostles,  their  teaching  office,  8 ; 
inspiration  of,  9  ;  teaching  of,  as 
to  Second  Advent,  175-7 

Articles,  The  XXXIX.,  XXII. , 
299;  VI., 329;  XX.andXXXIV., 

331 
Aquinas,     St.     Thomas,    on    the 
"hidden   receptacles"   of  souls, 
186 ;  on  Abraham's  Bosom  and 
the  Vision  of  God,  237  ;  teaching 


on  Purgatory,  261-3,  30i>  334; 
CotJWieniary  on  Sentences,  262  ; 
on  temporal  punishment,  337 
Augustine,  St.,  on  intermediate 
state,  186;  on  righteous  dead, 
187  ;  De  cura  pro  niortuis,  190 ; 
on  prayer  for  departed,  198  ;  on 
sacrifice  of  altar  and  alms  for 
departed,  202  ;  on  perfecting  of 
souls  before  general  judgment, 
209-10 ;  on  classes  of  souls, 
217-18;  on  "saved,  so  as  by 
fire,"  219,  242;  on  severity  of 
suffering  after  death,  244 ;  on 
penance,  311 

B 
Bible,    the,    its    relation    to    the 
Church,  7;  "back  to  the,"  14; 
its  inspiration,  64  ;  shovi^s  super- 
human skill,  65 
Body,    spiritual,     166,     168 ;    soul 

designed  to  inhabit,  170-1 
Books,  Jewish  apocryphal,  118 
Bramhall,   Abp.,   on   offertory  in 

Requiem  Mass,  258-9 
Browne,  Bp.  Harold,  on  XXXIX. 
Articles,  196 

C 
Cain,  why  his  offering  rejected,  79 
Catacombs,  inscriptions  in,  201 
Chance,  those  who  have  had  no,  58 
Character,  at  death,  51,  54 


404 


Index 


405 


Christ  crucified,  conformity  to, 
232-3 

Chrysostom,  St.  John,  on  joy  and 
sorrow  over  departed,  184 ;  on 
the  righteous  dead,  185;  on  in- 
vocation of  saints,  190;  on  prayer 
for  sinful  dead,  210-15  ;  on  un- 
certainty of  salvation,  240 

Church,  a  witness,  6 ;  relation  to 
Bible,  6,  39,  332  ;  not  an  oracle,  10 

Cicero,  on  funeral  rites,  105 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  St.,  on 
our  Lord's  descent  into  Hades, 
172  ;  on  suffering  hereafter,  243 

Coleridge,  Father,  303-5,  315-16, 

318 

Commendatory  prayer,  Anglican, 
247  ;  Roman,  350 

Commination  Service,  on  primitive 
discipline,  306,  341 

Communion  of  Saints,  the,  295  ; 
when  found  in  Creed,  187,  189 

Councils,  oecumenical,  11  ;  ac- 
cepted by  Anglican  Communion, 
II  ;  of  Florence,  263-5,  289, 
395  ;  of  Bethlehem,  270-I  ;  of 
Trent,  255,  287,  288,  300 

Creationism,  28 

Creeds,  contain  dogmatic  faith,  12; 
Nicene,  decree  of  Council  of 
Ephesus  as  to,  lo-ii  ;  a  develop- 
ment of  deposit  of  truth,  226 

Cyprian,  St.,  on  Paradise,  183 ; 
on  purification  after  death,  243-4  ; 
on  remission  of  penance,  308 

Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  St.,  29;  on 
"caught  up  to  Paradise,"  163, 
185 ;  on  commemoration  of  saints, 
and  prayer  for  departed,  203 ; 
divides  dead  into  three  classes, 
208 


D 

Damascene,  St.  John,  268 

Dante,  119,  157 

♦*  Day  of  Christ,"  176,  346 

Dead,  Israelite  superstitions  con- 
demned, 70 ;  Office  of  the,  260 

Death,  twofold  aspect  of,  49 ;  soul 
survives,  50 ;  improvement  after, 
53  ;  in  what  sense  end  of  proba- 
tion, 56-9  ;  type  of  sin,  142 

Delitzsch,  35-7,  161,  169 

Departed,  prayer  for,  in  Macca- 
bees, 117,  127;  modern  Jewish, 
129  ;  Gentile  influence  as  to,  130; 
in  all  religions,  199-200 ;  for 
whom  among  departed,  201-2 ; 
for  sinners,  203,  209 ;  in  Litur- 
gies, 202-7  ;  in  Primitive  Church, 
209,  245-6 ;  in  Canon  of  Mass 
and  Offertoriuin  of  Mass  for 
Dead,  256 ;  in  Eastern  Church, 
276  ;  in  1st  Prayer  Book,  Ed.  VL, 
358 ;  in  present  Prayer  Book, 
359 ;  Abp.  Temple  on,  360 ; 
almsfor,2i  i,  214-15,  217-18,  246, 
265,  269 ;  diptychs  of,  206 

Deutero-canonical  Books,  Z-^,  112 

Dives  and  Lazarus,  54,  143,  152 

Doctrine,  Romish,  as  to  tortures 
of  Purgatory,  301  ;  of  material 
fire,  303  ;  of  indulgences,  306 

Dogma,  and  doctrine,  12;  Roman, 
distinction  between  the,  and 
doctrine  of  theologians,  279-84 ; 
on  Purgatory  not  contrary  to 
Scripture,  365 

Dositheus,  Bp.,  270 

Duggan,  Father,  Steps  to  Reunion^ 

288 

E 

Eastern  Church  (see  Orthodox) 


4o6 


Index 


"  Ecclesia  docet,"  etc.,  8 

Edersheim,  Dr.,  121-2,  125 

Elias  taken  up  to  heaven,  163,  185 

Elysian  Fields  (Isles  of  Blessed), 
92,  93,  98,  103,  III,  132,  133, 
157 

Enoch,  Book  of,  119 

Ephesus,  Decree  as  to  Nicene 
Creed  at  Council  of,  10 

Epitaphs,  Greek,  on  Anacreon  and 
a  slave,  96  ;  Plato's  on  Aster,  97; 
on  Sabinus,  97  ;  on  Pamphile 
and  Plato,  98  ;  on  Plato,  a  boy, 
and  Prote,  99  ;  why  they  contain 
no  mention  of  Tartarus,  ico 

Essenes,  116;  belief  of  as  to  future 
life,  123 

Eternal  Hope ^  149,  150-1 

Irepbs  and  &\Xos, ' '  another  gospel, " 
II 

Eucharist  for  departed  in  Primitive 
Church,  201,  202,  203,  211,  214- 
15,  241,  364  ;  in  Eastern  Church, 
269,  271,  272  ;  in  Roman  Church, 
256,  317  ;  should  be  valued,  364-5 

F 

Faber,  Father,  192 ;  Interest  and 
Characteristics  of  the  Lives  of  the 
Saints,  193-4 

Faith,  The,  once  delivered,  8 

Fall  of  man,  158 

Fathers,  The,  on  Pagan  philosophy, 
88;  on  intermediate  state,  177, 
234 ;  on  two  states  hereafter, 
235-6,  239 ;  on  pain  of  sense, 
242-4;  differentopinionsof,275-6; 
hope  for  sinners,  289  (see  Eucha- 
rist, Departed,  etc.) 

"  Figures  of  the  true,"  136,  137 


Fire,  "salted  with,"  147;  "saved 
by,"  147-8,  219,  242;  dis- 
criminating, 243  ;  of  purification, 
whether  material,  252  ;  of  Pur- 
gatory and  Hell,  262,  267 

Fireworks  during  Mass  for  the 
Dead,  321 

Forbes,  Bp.,  on  XXXIX. 
Articles,  196 

Forty  days,  the  great,  165 

Friends  meet  in  Heaven,  388 

G 

Galileo,  283,  284 

Can- Eden,  119,  131 

Garden  of  Eden,  made  for  right- 
eous, 131 

"Gates  of  Hell,"  141,  142 

rce'vva,  140 

Gehenna,  temporal  and  eternal 
punishment  in,  121-2,  125,  127, 
131,  140,  145,  146,  148  ;  prayer 
offered  for  souls  in,  129  ;  created 
before  world,  130;  prepared  for 
wicked,  131 ;  and  Tartarus  identi- 
cal, 131,  145  ;  fire  of,  140,  144, 

147 
Genesis,  Book  of,  origin  of  soul  in, 

26 
Gore,  Canon,  278 
Gospel,  faith  of,  not  entirely  new 

revelation,     132,     135-6,    144-6, 

155,  199,  225 
Greek  thought  and  Christian  faith, 

21  ;  Jewish  contact  with,  83 
Gregory  of  Nyssa,  St.,  on  eternal 

punishment,  253 
Gregory  the   Great,    St.,   on    St. 

Paul    **with    Christ,"    168;    on 

purgatorial  fire,  251 


Index 


407 


Guilt,  absence   of,  negative   state, 
241 ;  of  mortal  and  venial  sin,  337 


H 

Habits,  hard  to  alter,  51 

Hades,  54,  119;  no  sunlight  in, 
96 ;  whole  nether  world,  140, 
143;  gates  of,  141,  142:  tem- 
porary purgation  in,  141,  253 ; 
our  Lord's  descent  into,  143, 
159,  160,  162,  164,  172;  all 
imperfect  souls  in,  252-3 ;  the 
"place  of  grief  and  pain,"  274 

Harnack,  Dr.,  189 

Heaven,  four  Hebrew  words  for, 
66;  belief  of  Jews  about,  119; 
the  "throne  of  God,"  137;  a 
region  above,  138;  future  home 
of  man,  138-9;  third,  162-3; 
souls  already  in,  167-8 

Hellenisation  of  Judaea,  113 

Hilary,  St.,  distinguishes  between 
"kingdom  of  the  Lord"  and 
"kingdom  of  God,"  186 

Hillel,  school  of,  121 

Hinduism,  sacrifice  for  dead,  91 

Hinnom,  Valley  of,  119,  140 

Hippolitus,  St.,  teaches  all  souls 
in  Hades,  238 

Homer,  his  teaching  on  future  life, 
91  ;  on  burial  of  dead,  105 

Homily  on  Prayer,  denies  inter- 
mediate place,  360 

Honorius,  Pope,  283,  284 

H umanity,  Sacred,  visible  in  heaven, 
178 

Hunter,  Father,  S.J.,  Outlines  of 
Dogmatic  Theology,  293 ;  on 
Indulgences,  309-10 


Illuminative  way  of  Church,  81 

Immortality,  conditional,  39,  44 
(see  Soul) 

Infallibility,  dogma  of,  286 

Inferi,  the  nether  world,  236,  '257, 
260,  262,  265 

Inspiration,  64 

Intermediate  State,  little  revealed 
as  to,  13 ;  in  Old  Testament, 
67-84 ;  in  ancient  religions,  90, 
105  ;  in  Jewish  tradition,  1 16-21 ; 
in  New  Testament,  152-168  ;  in 
Primitive  Church,  175,  334-5; 
in  mediaeval,  252-4 ;  in  Greek 
Church,  276;  in  modern  Roman 
Communion,  326 ;  in  Anghcan 
Communion,  333,  343 

Invocation  of  saints,  189 ;  wide- 
spread in  fourth  century,  191  ; 
abuse  of,  in  mediaeval  Church, 
192  ;  "  Romish  doctrine  of,"  193, 
196 

Irenasus,  St.,  on  the  "bodily 
form"  of  souls,  171;  teaches 
Jewish  belief  as  to  exclusion  from 
Heaven  till  resurrection,  179; 
that  Paradise  is  part  of  Heaven, 
181,  238 


Jerome,  St.,  Treatise  against  Vigi- 
lantius,  188  ;  on  veneration  of 
saints,  189;  on  souls  in  Hades, 
238 

Jesus  Christ,  the  Divine  Teacher, 
6 ;  what  He  taught,  6  ;  came  to 
fulfil,  not  to  destroy,  135 ;  His 
teaching  on  future  life,  135-44, 
147 ;  His  resurrection  a  vital 
fact,  371  (see  Resurrection)  ;  His 


4o8 


Index 


influence  on  world  unique,  374 ; 
His  Divinity,  375 
Jews,  their  history  after  close  of 
Canon  of  Old  Testament,  108-14  j 
teaching  chiefly  concerned  with 
externals,  115;  schools  among, 
121 

Josephus,  123 

Judge,  God  not  man  the,  201-2 

Judgment,    after    death,    77 ;    in 

Plato,    93;  general,     170,    171; 

particular,  170. 
Justin  Martyr  denounces  heretics 

who  deny  resurrection,    178;  on 

immortality    of    soul,     179;    on 

Paradise,  18 1 
Juvenal,  105 

K 
Kabbalah,  116 
Kaddisch,  the,  128 
"Kingdom,  children  of  the,"  126 


Lapide,  Cornelius  A,  on  Paradise, 
162,  164 ;  on  the  deliverance  of 
the  souls  from  Hades,  166 

Law,  the,  the  tree  of  life,  131 

Liberius,  Pope,  283 

Liddon,  Dr.,  46 

Life,  after  death,  5  ;  early  Christian, 
9  ;  future,  little  defined  as  to,  13  ; 
origin  of,  24,  28 ;  eternal,  the 
gift  of  God,  151,  179 

Limbus,  164 

Liturgies,  prayer  for  departed  in, 
202,  204,  205,  206,  207  ;  Greek 
represent  belief  of  Primitive 
Church ;  Roman  belief  of  me- 
diaeval, 254 


Longer  Catechism,  the,  313,  397-8 

Lost,  the,  57,  1 50-1 

Love,  varies  in  degree,  387 ;  earthly, 

a  preparation  for  heavenly,  389 
Lucretius,  24 

M  .  " 

Macarius,  Bp.,  271-2,  273,  396, 

397,  399-403 
Macarius,  St.,  347 

Maccabees,  113 

Man,  his  nature,  17 

Mark,  Archbp.  of  Ephesus,  264, 
266-8 

Martyrs  go  at  once  to  Paradise, 
182,  203,  209,  221  ;  dead  buried 
near  tombs  of,  190,  191  ;  inter- 
cede for  penitents,  307 

Mass,  date  of  Canon  of,  256 ; 
wording  of,  primitive,  ibid. ; 
Offertory  of  Requiem,  256-8 ; 
thirty  Masses  for  departed,  318 

Materialism,  24,  50 

Medina,  Johannes,  257 

Miracles,  a  witness,  10 

Mogila,  Peter,  268 

Mystery,  4,  65 

"  N 

Neale,  Dr.,  on  Eastern  Church, 
250  ;  Hist,  of  East.  Church,  272, 

399 
Necessary  Doctrine  and  Erudition 

for  any  Christian  man,  167,  298, 

356 
Newman,   Dr.,  on  invocation  of 

saints,  192 
Nicodemus,  i 
Non-Jurors,   correspondence  with 

East,  273 


Index 


409 


o 

Offertory  in  Roman  Requiem  Mass, 
257,  258-9 

Old  Testament,  meaning  of,  63 ; 
on  future  life,  67-77  ;  on  reward 
and  punishment  hereafter,  78 

Origen,  on  intermediate  state,  238  ; 
on  restitution  of  all  things,  253 

Orthodox    Eastern    Church,  on 
prayer  for  sinful  dead,  209,  211 
rejects  doctrine  of  purgatory,  239 
270,  272,  273,  274 ;  rejects  doc 
trine  of  material  fire,  252  ;  points 
of  agreement  with  West,  252-4 
differences  of  opinion   in,    266 
authorities  on,  268-75,  393  '■>  '^o 
middle  place   of  purgation,   269 
270,  272,  276,  395-6,  403  ;  teach 
ing  as  to  intermediate  state,  276 
rejects  Romish  doctrine  of  "  satis 
faction,"  313  ;  on  Beatific  Vision 
397  ;    on  vision  of  Christ,   397 
Orthodox      Confession       teaches 
Hades    is    Hell    of    lost,    398 
Synod  of  Bethlehem,  399 ;  doc 
trine  of  Bp,  Macarius  on  Telonies 
399 ;  just  go  at  once  to  Heaven 
a  state  known  by  many  names 
400 ;  see  God  face  to  face,  401 
sinners  go  to  Hades,  called  also 
Gehenna,    401,    and  Hell,    402 
possibility    of   deliverance    from 
Hell,    403 ;    no    place    between 
Heaven  and  Hell  (Gehenna),  403 


Paganism,  its  witness  to  faith,  13, 
22,  40 ;  objection  to  consideration 
of,  87  ;  Fathers  on,  88 ;  sum  of 
belief  as  to  future  life,  105 


Pain  of  loss  {pcena  damni),  pagan 
idea  of,  loi  ;  Christian,  240, 
242 

Pain  of  sense  {pana  sensus)  here- 
after, 242-4 

Palmer,  W.,  285 

IIapd8£i(ros,  163 

Paradise,  119  ;  prayer  not  offered 
for  souls  in,  129  ;  created  before 
world,  130 ;  and  Gehenna  con- 
tiguous, 131  ;  original  meaning 
of  word,  156,  163;  expulsion 
from,  158;  before  Ascension,  a 
place  beneath,  156  ;  after,  a  place 
above,  160-2,  163,  168,  182  ; 
St.  Cyril  teaches  one  of  higher 
of  many  mansions,  163,  183 ; 
another  name  for  Heaven,  179, 
275,  400 ;  not  a  place  of  purifi- 
cation, 220,  233-4,  275 

Pardes,  156 

Passion,  worked  change  in  con- 
dition of  righteous  dead,  159, 
160-1,  162,  169 

Pastoral  Letter,  282-4 

Pearson,  Bp.,  on  Creed,  162,  189 

Penance,  in  primitive  Church,  228, 
230,  306,  31 1  ;  in  Eastern  Church, 

313 
Pharisees,  belief  as  to  future  life, 

116,  123 
Plato,  25,  33,  59,  %i,  91-4 
Plumptre,  Dr.,  127-9 
nv€v[jLa,  28 
Presence  of  God,  the,  160,  161  ; 

loss  of,  158,  159 
Probation,  46,  56 

^vxi^,  30 
Punishment — 
(i)  eternal,  ancient  Jewish  belief 
as  to,   121-5;    in  Tartarus  or 


4IO 


Index 


Gehenna,    131,    149-50;    Dr. 
Farrar  on,  150-1 

(2)  *' temporal,"  231  {%tz  Satis- 
faction) 

(3)  temporary, after  death, among 
Greeks,  93  ;  among  Jews,  55, 
117,  121  (for  twelve  months), 
122,  125,  127  ;  in  Tartarus  or 
Gehenna,  131,  148  ;  teaching 
of  Fathers,  227-245  ;  of  for- 
given sin,  231,  291  ;  negative 
and  positive,  242  ;  Origen's 
teaching,  253 ;  Romish  doctrine 

of,  336 
Purgative,  way  of  Church,  80 
Purgatory,  for  twelve  months,  125, 
128;  judgment  day,  230,  245; 
growth  of  doctrine  in  Fathers  as 
to,  245 ;  Anglican  prayer  for 
purgation  of  soul,  247  ;  mediaeval 
development,  252 ;  differences 
between  East  and  West,  252; 
once  taught  to  be  Hell,  252 ; 
common  ground  up  to  separation 
of  East  and  West,  253  ;  material 
fire  in,  254  ;  not  taught  in  Roman 
or  Greek  Liturgies,  254 ;  defi- 
nition of  Council  of  Florence, 
265;  of  Trent,  289;  Romish 
doctrine  concerning,  301  ;  under 
charge  of  B.V.  M.,  321;  de- 
liverance from  through  use  of 
"Brown Scapular,"  322;  B.V.M. 
delivers  out  of,  on  her  Festivals, 
325  ;  of  torment  for  just  unknown 
to  Fathers,  334 ;  Dr.  Plumptre 
on,  354-5  :  A  necessary  doctrine, 
etc.,  on,  356 

Pusey,  Dr.,  175,  187,  i95,  287, 
332  ;  and  Dr.  Farrar,  353 


R 

Refrigeriiim,  201,  256 

Resurrection  of  body,  article  of 
faith,  13  ;  essential  to  complete- 
ness of  bliss,  171  ;  a  practical 
point  of  dogma,  177  ;  promised, 
383  ;  resurrection  body  spiritual, 

274,  384 

Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,  vital 
truth,  371  ;  a  stumbling-block, 
373  ;  proof  of  Divinity,  376  ;  not 
a  fraud,  ibid.  ;  or  delusion,  377  ; 
"theory  of  visions,"  376;  not  a 
' '  fixed  idea, "  378  ;  not  a  recovery 
from  swoon,  379  ;  difficulties  of 
swoon  theory,  380  ;  His  body  not 
stolen,  ibid.;  no  other  account 
than  Gospel  story,  381  ;  or 
Christian  apologists  would  have 
attempted  refutation,  382 ;  in- 
fluence of  Gospel,  proof  of  truth, 
ibid. 

Revelation,  its  channels,  19 

Rig- Veda,  the,  90 

Risen  life,  our,  385 ;  brings  com- 
plete satisfaction,  386 

Roman  Church,  schools  of  thought 
in,  192,  196 

Roman  Congregations,  283,  284 


Sacrifice,  law  of  acceptance,  79 
Saints,     commemoration    of,      in 

Liturgies,  203-9  (see  Invocation 

and  Veneration) 
"Salted  with  fire,"  147,  229 
Sanderson,     Dr.,     Life    of    the 

Waiting  Soul,  220 
Satisfaction,     Eastern     doctrine, 

313;    Romish,    291,    337,    340; 


Index 


411 


denied  by  Anglican  Communion 
(and  Eastern),  338 ;  the  Fathers 
on,  ibid.  ;  Hooker  on,  338-9  ;  in 
what  sense  true,  338,  340-1 ; 
debt  paid  by  Christ,  340  ;  Angli- 
can teaching  on,  340-3 

Saul  at  Endor,  "jt, 

Scapular,  the  Brown  or  Carmelite, 
322  ;  controversy  in  Tablet  con- 
cerning, 323;  "a  sacrament  of 
eternal  salvation,"  324 ;  indul- 
genced  by  Popes  and  recom- 
mended by  Romish  hierarchy, 
326 

Schouppe,  258;  Elementa  Dog- 
fiiatica  Theologice,  303 

Scripture,  Holy,  close  of  Canon 
of,  8 ;  symbolical  language  of, 
136,  148  (see  Church) 

Segur,  Mgr.  de,  303 

Septuagint,  112 

Sepulchral  Epigrams,  Greek,  95 
(see  Epitaphs) 

Shammai,  school  of,  121 

Sheol,  66;  not  place  of  punish- 
ment, 68;  redemption  from,  76; 
souls  committed  to,  130;  equiva- 
lent of  Hades,  140 

Sin,  56;  forgiven  after  death,  146; 
separation  from  God,  158;  mortal, 
260,  265;  venial,  265,  305 

Slave,  Greek,  epitaph  on  tomb  of, 
96 

Socrates,  94,  no 

Soul,  the  human,  20;  and  spirit,  20, 
29 ;  definition  of,  22 ;  Lucretius 
on,  24;  origin  of,  25;  pre-exist- 
ence  denied,  25 ;  likeness  to  God, 
27;  SS.  Augustine  and  Cyril  of 
Jerusalem  and  Dr.  Liddon  on, 
29;  immortality  of,  in  Bible  and 


Plato,  34 ;    Dr.    Agar   Beet   and 
Delitzsch  on,  35,  37 ;  pagan  beliefs 
as  to,  41;  Christian  belief  in,  42; 
a  reasonable  belief,  43;   sum  of 
witness  to,  45 ;   Dr.   Liddon  on, 
46 ;    after   death,   in    Old  Testa- 
ment,   (>^ ;     in    ancient    Eastern 
religions,    90;    in    Homer,    91  ; 
Plato,    92 ;    in   Greek  anthology 
"sepulchral  epigrams,"  95-ico ; 
in  Latin  authors,   102-4;  helped 
by    funeral    rites,     105 ;    Jewish 
traditions,    119;  bodily  form  of, 
1 70;  sleep  of,  234-5;  conducted 
by  angels  after  death,  238-9 ;  of 
just,  in   peace,   334;    of  sinners, 
335 ;  foreign  Protestant  beliefs  as- 
tOj     353;     instantaneously    per- 
fected, 347,  349;   commendation 
of,  Roman,  350;  Anglican,  247; 
desiderata  for,  363 

"Spirits  in  prison,"  160,  162 

Suarez,  347 

Suffering,    educational,    55,     152, 
290-1,  341-2,  351 


Talmud,  the,  124,  130 

Targums,  the,  130 

Taprapwo-as,  140,  145 

Tartarus,  in  Jewish  tradition  and 
Homer,  92;  place  of  temporary 
or  eternal  woe,  93,  103,  131,  146; 
the  same  as  Gehenna,  131,  145  ; 
fires  of,  140;  twofold  aspect  of, 
144-5;  ii^  Offertory  of  Requiem 
Mass,  257 

Teacher,  a,  come  from  God,  2 

Temporal  punishment  (see  Punish- 
ment) 

Tennyson,  vi. 


412 


Index 


Tertullian,  on  descent  of  Christ 
into  Hades,  172;  on  the  martyrs, 
182;  on  prayer  for  departed, 
200-1 ;  on  the  infefi,  238 

Thiers,  Abbe,  Traite  des  Super- 
stitions, 319 

Tradition,  Jewish,  value  of,  132; 
corrupt,  145 

Traducianism,  28 

Tree  of  life,  131,  158,  160,  163 

Trench,  Abp.,  Epistles  to  Seven 
Churches,  163 

Truth,  how  far  can  be  expressed, 
21;  gradually  unfolded,  82,  226 


U 

'*  Ubi  Christus,  ibi  Paradisus,"  164, 

169 
Unitive  way  of  Church,  81 


Varseur,  Father,  S.J.,  Let  us  not 

forget  our  dear  Dead,  294 

Veneration  of  Saints,  188 

Virgil,  on  future  life,  102-4 

Virgin    Mary,    Blessed,    Romish 

excesses    about,     193,    322 ;     in 

Greek   Liturgies,   204-8  ;   power 

over    souls    in    Purgatory,    321 ; 

Immaculate  Conception  of,  333 

Vision,  Beatific,  195,  242,  247 

Vision  of  Christ,  hereafter,  388 

Vision  of  God,  151,  159,  161,  164, 

168,  169,  170,  181,  184,  186,  265 

Visitation  of  Sick,  242,    342,  344, 

346 

W 

Woman,  Seed  of,  158-9 
Wright,    Dr.,     The    Intermediate 
I       State,  118,  233 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

BERKELEY 

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